Wasteland Lovers
by XelixAhture
Summary: An arranged marriage with Butch is all the the Lone Wanderer has to look forward in life. But when she's given a whole wasteland to choose from, would she still choose him? Or would she continue on her path, helping everyone she can, including a ghoul who has lived through too much? There's a pairing in here somewhere. Lots of Charon. Lots of Butch. Lots of wasteland feels. F!LW
1. Chapter 1: We've Always Been This Way

**Okay, so this chapter kind of sucks, but I've got a lot planned and the next one is better, I swear. This is just kind of a lame introduction. There will be lots of Lone Wanderer/Butch soon! So stay tuned! Also, this starts out really light hearted, but gets a lot more serious closer to the end. Rated M for swearing, sexual content, and violence.**

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She wished that she had just taken the GOAT like everyone else. Part of her didn't think she was cut out for medical work. Her father had been having her study medicine extensively, but now that she was in the clinic and seeing everything in vivid color, she felt queasy. She'd managed to put up with a little blood and a few injuries here and there, but as the day went on, everything seemed to weigh on her.

"It's okay, honey." Her father placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No one sane is ever comfortable around people in pain."

She nodded absently, wrapping the purple bruise around the frail old woman's fingers. Too bad broken fingers weren't an easy fix. Especially since their vault didn't come with an auto-doc.

"Thank you dear," The old woman mumbled through the haze her pain killers caused.

Halune nodded, a nervous smile pressed into her lips.

There was a loud scraping from the door and a shout. "Coming through!" The voice belonged to Freddy Gomez.

Halune spun around as she saw Freddie leading Butch through the doorway. He had a towel wrapped around his hand and was swearing in pain.

"What happened?" Her father inquired, striding forward and reaching for Butch's hand.

"Dumbass managed to stab himself with a pair of scissors while cutting hair," Freddie explained breathlessly.

In any other circumstance, she would have laughed. But as soon as the towel was removed and she saw all that blood… Her head spun and she felt the floor rush up to meet her.

She woke up on a hospital bed to the sound of Jonah and her father talking. She blinked rapidly and sat up slowly.

"You alright?" Jonah asked when he noticed her.

"Yeah," There was a faint taste of copper in her mouth. "What…?"

"You fainted Nosebleed," Butch scoffed, in an unusually bad mood. More so than usual. "What kind of doctor are you going to be if you pass out like that at the sight of a little blood?"

She glared and eyed the bandage that James was securing around his hand.

Swinging her feet over the bed, she took the water that Jonah handed her and gulped it down thankfully.

"You just fainted, so there's nothing wrong with you and you'll be fine," James remarked, a soft smile on his face.

"I think you'd be better at cleaning duty or somethin' else cuz this obviously ain't it for you. Instead of getting treated right away, I had to wait for them to pick your scrawny ass off the floor " The glare Butch shot her way indicated he was putting as much blame on her as possible.

Her father gave him an intense stare for attacking his daughter, which Butch pointedly ignored.

Rolling her eyes, she stood up but started when she heard someone call out her name.

She turned to see Amata.

"Can I go, dad?"

He sighed and shook his head in response but she just grinned, waving good bye to Jonah and resisting the urge to flip off their newest patient.

She told Amata what had happened earlier and Amata patted her back reassuringly. "It'll be okay," She promised. "It was your first day."

"Except I've been training ever since we were kids." Halune scrunched her nose at this thought.

Amata offered a small smile, rolling over and stuffing her pillow under her chest to prop her up. "Let's just forget about it. The Halloween party's coming up. What are you going to be?"

Halune pursed her lips thoughtfully. "I'm not sure."

The other girl didn't miss a beat. "I'm going as a pirate. I love the leather and the mischief."

Suddenly everything clicked into place. "I want to go as a Tunnel Snake." Her expression warped into a wide, toothy grin.

Amata gaped. "Why?"

"Because it means I get to take Butch's precious jacket before the party."

"He's going to kill you."

"I know." She smirked anyway.

* * *

 **Okay! I'm going to post the next chapter right now! Lots of Butch! Whoohoo!**


	2. Chapter 2: Trouble Maker

**Okay, so we almost get somewhere here. Next chapter has much more Butch.**

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It had to be Butch's jacket. She didn't want anyone else's. It would feel all the more satisfying to know that the jacket she wore belonged to her childhood bully. The gang typically didn't attend these parties unless they wanted to pull a prank or steal food. She was still going to make sure that Butch saw her in the jacket at least once that night.

Taking the jacket had been the hard part. He wore that jacket everywhere.

She had convinced Amata to help her, and the girl had finally agreed.

Halune stood around the corner and Amata had readied herself right in front of the door of Butch's barber shop.

Amata cast a glance to Halune, who nodded and ducked out of sight.

There was a loud banging on the door.

"What do _you_ want?" Butch growled, not afraid to address the overseer's daughter with contempt. Would he ever grow out of it?

"I just need to talk to you." Amata replied indignantly.

"Yeah? Why?"

"As you know, the Halloween party is coming up. And…" She hesitated, clearing her through twice. That was the signal. "Last year, you and your gang decided to pull a pretty nasty prank-."

Halune glanced around the corner.

Butch had his back to her.

She crept forward.

"Look, Princess, I know what I did, and I didn't regret anything. Did you really think that you could come here and boss me around just cuz you're the new overseer in training?"

Halune cast a glance at Butch's back before sneaking into the room. He hadn't noticed her. She heard them continue to talk as she scanned the room quickly. She spotted the jacket hanging off the arm of a large stuffed chair in the corner. She scooped it up before she heard Amata shout.

"Don't you walk away from me!"

Halune panicked and glanced over to see Butch shutting the door. He still hadn't seen her. She quickly slid herself into the triangle between the corner and the back of the chair and held her breath. She heard Amata pound her fists on the door a few more times before she finally gave up.

Halune listened intently while Butch swept and hummed a jazzy tune to himself. It felt like eternity before the room fell silent again. She couldn't tell if he was done cleaning, or if he had spotted her.

Her muscles ached from holding herself so still.

"Where the fuck…?" She heard him mutter to himself. He moved things around and opened the closet and seemed to be looking everywhere… probably for his jacket.

Her lips were a thin line as she clenched the jacket in her fists, hoping he wouldn't come near her.

She heard footsteps approach her hiding place. She didn't breathe as she waited.

Finally he sighed and moved away and opened the door, locking it behind him. For a moment Halune sighed in relief, but then she realized that she was locked in.

Shit.

She didn't have the key to lock the door and didn't know the computer code.

"Amata?" She whispered over her pipboy.

"Yes?!" She sounded relieved and worried at the same time.

"I got locked in. He didn't see me. I think."

"You think?"

Halune chose to ignore the question. "Do you think you could let me out? Do you know the terminal password?"

"No!" She hissed. A pause. Then a sigh. "I'll see if I can hack it."

Halune stood up and stretched her limbs. The room was dark but she didn't want to turn on her pipboy light. She jumped when she saw a shadow pass in front of the window but relaxed when she saw that it was Amata fiddling with the terminal outside.

Finally the doors opened and Amata gestured wildly for Halune to step through the doorway before she reengaged the lock.

They hurried back to Amata's room.

"I can't believe we managed to get his jacket!" Amata gushed. Laughing as she tried it on. "I feel like it needs more glitter."

Halune snorted. "If we did that… he'd never want it back."

"Wouldn't that be a shame?" The wicked grin looked out of place on Amata's gentle face.

Halune smiled faintly. "Let me try it on."

Amata shrugged out of the jacket and Halune took it, zipping it halfway up and admiring the way she looked in leather.

The week that led up to the party was full of questioning from Butch. He had realized that Amata had been there the night that the jacket had been stolen, and was remarkably smart enough to figure it out.

She had only been in the diner for ten minutes on her lunch break before he walked in and grabbed her arm and hauled her out of her seat, pressing her against the bar.

"I know you took it Poindexter." He leaned his arm on the counter and had her corned against it, the metal digging into her spine uncomfortably.

"No," She growled, huffing at the scent of tobacco on his breath. "I told you I was with my dad studying. Why don't you ask him?"

"Right," He leaned even closer. Without his jacket, he wore just his jumpsuit and a white t-shirt. His jumpsuit was halfway unzipped and was tied around his waist to expose his well muscled arms and the formfitting fabric that outlined his defined torso. "I know your old man. He wouldn't rat you out."

"Back off Tunnel Brat. I told you I didn't take it." She tried to maneuver sideways away from him. He cut her off by placing his other arm on the counter behind her, pinning her in from both sides.

"If you don't give that jacket back, I'm going to make you pay for it."

She felt uncomfortable with him this close. That was probably the point. "How much could that ratty thing possibly be worth?"

"I didn't mean pay with it in money," His voice was low.

"What's going on in here?" A voice demanded. It was Jonah. "Butch, if you like her that much, you could just ask her to the Halloween dance like any normal guy would." He crossed his arms, his face cold.

"No, it's not like that." Butch shoved his hands in his pockets. "Look, she took-"

"I can't think of any other reason why you would need to get that close to her. Do we need to discuss the birds and the bees? Because you know, when a man likes a woman, he tends to pick on her, but that's really not how you should-"

Butch turned on his heel and left the diner without another word.

"Thanks," Halune chuckled, picking up her soda.

"I was only half-kidding about what I said." Jonah placed himself on the barstool next to her and ordered a soda from Andy.

Halune placed herself back in her seat and picked at her food, eyeing Jonah suspiciously.

"Since the beginning of time, immature boys don't know how to tell girls that they like them, so instead, they pick on them."

She snorted. "No, Butch doesn't like me."

Jonah shrugged. "I was just pointing out a possibility."

She rolled her eyes and finished the last of her soda. "He thinks I took his jacket."

"His Tunnel Snake jacket?" He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I noticed he wasn't wearing it lately. So," He paused. "Did you take it?"

Halune snorted to cover up a laugh. Jonah knew her too well. She had always been a devious child. "Nope." She smiled an almost innocent smile and Jonah shook his head, unsure if she was being truthful or not.

"So, I was wondering if there might be something between you and Amata…"

Halune gaped. "Uhm, no?"

"You've been spending a lot of time with her since you were a kid."

"Yeah, so?" She cats a sheepish glare at the man.

"Hey, it's not like you tell me what's going on in your life now a days."

She instantly sobered up. "Sorry." She ran a slender hand through her hair. "I just… I dunno. Sorry."

He chuckled and stood up. "See ya later kiddo." He ruffled a hand through her hair.

She immediately began fixing it. "Bye uncle Jonah."

The party was held in a large room typically meant for meetings and ceremonies. There was a raised stage at the front of the room, and tables of food were set up on both sides of the room. Somehow they had managed to rig the lights to dim most of the bulbs and allowed a few spotlights to be shone around the room in multiple colors.

Halune strode into the room and immediately began looking around for Amata.

She was aware of eyes on her as she strode in wearing the black leather jacket. A few eyes even narrowed. If that hadn't already figured out that she had taken the jacket, they knew now.

"Poindexter!" She sighed and looked over her shoulder to see Butch and his gang walking towards her. His upper lip curled into a sneer when he seen her attire. "I fuckin' knew it. I knew it was you." He gripped her upper arm. "Okay, you've had your fun, now give it back."

"Can't it wait until the end of the night Butchie?" She tried to jerk her arm out of his grasp.

"No. No it cannot. I've had to go without that jacket for over a week now."

"That must have been so hard." Her voice droned out in a bored monotone.

"Quit being a smartass. Just give it back you little shit."

She sighed. "Fine." She had figured it would come to this when he found out. She had just hoped she would have been able to show it off a little longer and hadn't anticipated him finding her this soon.

She shrugged the jacket off and revealed her backup costume, a strapless corset in black and violet.

Wally Mack whistled at her bare shoulders approvingly and she rolled her eyes.

Butch immediately put the jacket on and zipped it up.

Halune tucked her hands into her pockets and leaned back, in a gesture she knew he used all the time to look bored and confident. "Am I free to go?" She cocked an eyebrow at him and flipped her long, dark hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah, whatever Nosebleed." He pushed past her and bumped her off balance when he hit her with his shoulder and she glared. Wally waved at her, a disgusting smile on his face as the rest of the gang followed Butch out of the room.

Halune moved over to the food tables and was met by Amata.

"Hey, where's your jacket?"

Halune offered a small smile. "Butch already caught on and took it from me the moment I stepped in the room."

"That sucks. But you still look really nice."

"Thanks," she mumbled as she took a sip of punch.

The two girls danced in the throng of people for an hour or so before they broke away to get something to drink again.

Halune tried to sneak an alcoholic drink, but the security guard standing watch glared at her and crossed his arms disapprovingly. She shrugged and served herself more punch.

A minute later, a hand clapped itself onto her shoulder and made her turn around.

She was greeted by the overseer and two security guards.

"Uh, hey," She greeted, surprise coloring her face. "What's up?"

"I have found something interesting-"

"What's going on daddy?" Amata asked, stepping forward.

"This doesn't involve you. Go back to the party. Don't worry about your friend."

Amata looked like she wanted to protest, but after a look from the security guard, she backed away a little and busied herself with the food only a few feet away.

Halune crossed her arms expectantly.

"I've received a tip that you've been keeping weapons in your room."

She gaped, her brave façade fading.

"We searched it and found your BB gun as well as a rather large looking knife. One that isn't meant for cooking."

"That knife is for… crafts and stuff." Her lie was painfully pathetic.

The overseer rolled his eyes. "Why my daughter decided to spend time with you, I will never understand. Not only are you insolent, you're a delinquent and you behave as if you're better than everyone in this vault. You don't respect authority and you're just as bad as those delinquents-"

"Don't compare me to them." She cut in, eyes narrowing angrily. He was referring to the Tunnel Snakes.

"Furthermore," He continued, brushing off her argument. "You've always been a useless rat who greedily takes our resources and gives nothing back."

Her eyebrows arched upwards in astonished anger. "You're not the greatest either buddy. Picking on kids at their birthdays because you don't like your child's taste of friends. You should be ashamed of yourself. And you're a-"

"Don't think you can insult your way out of a punishment. You've committed a crime and must be reprimanded. Come with us and please… put on some… clothes." He eyed her shoulders with disgust and she snapped.

"Excuse me, I was trying to enjoy the Halloween party that _you_ threw. Aside from that, you're a rude old geezer who doesn't even give a shit about his daughter."

Amata came up behind her. "Please stop, Halune. Just drop it."

Halune didn't glance her way. "I don't know what you're fucking problem with me is, but I know that you allow Butch to carry around his switchblade because you fucking tip him to mess with people you don't like. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if you enjoyed his constant bullying of me throughout school. You certainly never did anything to try to fix things when I tried to report him. And the worst thing about it all? I was a _kid._ I hadn't even done anything to make you dislike me. You just outright hated me from the start because you're an dick who liked to keep his head shoved up his asshole just because you think it smells better than everyone around you. Newsflash, you're not the greatest. You're not perfect. In fact, you're a piece of shit that I wish would just drop and leave me the hell alone for fucking once. You don't even care about anything or anyone. Not even Amata. She grew up without a mother or a father because you were never there for her. You're a cold, heartless man. Amata would be so much better off without you. In fact, she told me once that she wished that my dad was her dad too because you don't care about her."

When she was finished with her furious rant, the overseer waved the guards to grip her arms where they dragged her away and took her to his office, fuming.

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 **Let me know what you think! (Also, I'm super super excited for Fallout 4!)**


	3. Chapter 3: Almost Friends

**So, I've been writing non stop for the past two days and I've decided to post almost everything that I've written to see what you guys think of it. This chapter is full of Butch.**

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She was assigned two months of cleaning duty on top of her regular work at the clinic as well as a 300 dollar fine for possession of weapons. Amata had managed to talk down Halune's punishment, but was upset at her for the things she had said to the overseer.

Halune felt guilty for Amata's sake, but didn't regret the look of pure hatred evident on the overseer's face with everything she had told him.

She took off her lab coat and headed for the barber shop. Conveniently enough, Butch had put in a request for a cleaning assistant the moment he found out what her punishment was. The overseer was gleeful to assign Halune of all people to fulfill his request.

She opened a storage closet and pulled out a cleaning cart, rolling her sleeves up to her elbows and tying her hair back.

Upon entering the shop, Butch was sitting in a chair reading a magazine with no customers at the moment. He had deliberately left hair on the floor for her to sweep up. Sighing, she resigned herself to the longest two months of her life.

"I told you I'd make you pay," Butch announced triumphantly.

"Yeah, good for you." The tone she tried for sounded more irritated than bored. She pulled the broom off the cart and began sweeping up the piles of hair, scrunching her face in disgust. "So, I'm figuring that you were the one who told the overseer to check my room?"

Butch didn't answer, he simply set his magazine down and locked his fingers together behind his neck.

She huffed, throwing the hair into the garbage. "What do you even need me to clean?" She demanded suddenly. "There was the hair on the floor but I don't see anything else."

"Oh," He said nonchalantly, with a cocky grin on his stupid face. "I'm sure we can find something." He stood and opened a drawer. "You can polish my scissors. You could clean the sides of the cabinets. Clean the chair and the chair legs. Clean the mirror. There's lots I can find for you to do."

She curled her lip at him.

* * *

After a week of slaving for Butch, Halune had almost reached some sort of peace with him. Almost.

"What's your favorite candy bar?" Butch asked casually.

She sighed, pausing her scrubbing of the floor under the cabinet. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Butch pulled out his wallet and counted a few dollars.

"I dunno. Something with caramel."

He nodded and then left the room. She was surprised that he would offer to buy her anything. She mopped up the remainder of the floor and washed her hands, pouring herself a glass of water. She leaned against the counter and sipped it thoughtfully.

Lately most of Butch's "pranks" consisted of throwing things at her when she wasn't looking and dropping ice cubes down the back of her jumpsuit. He even tripped her a few times, but these harmless things she could handle. She wondered if he was just running out of creative ideas.

She picked at one of her lip piercings and set her glass down. She'd pierced her lips herself, and the overseer and her dad both hadn't liked it. However, since she had unlimited access to clean sterile tools, they knew that she would just do it again if she was made to take them out.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Amata's figure in the doorway.

"Hey," she calls out hesitantly.

Amata doesn't return the greeting. "My dad has been treating me like an ingrate after what you said to him." She leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her chest. "He's treating me like I'm a grounded child lately simply because he's upset with you. Well, now both of us. So thanks for dragging me into this."

"I'm sorry, Amata."

"You know what the worst part of this is?" She twirled a lock of copper hair between her fingers. "He still thinks that he's the greatest parent ever and that you're the one to blame. He keeps saying stuff like he wish you never came here."

There was an angry hiss of breath as Halune sighed. "Well, if I could be anywhere else, I would be."

Amata started. "So you'd just leave us if you could?"

"No. Amata. Not you. Just... your dad."

Just then Butch came back holding several candy bars in his hands.

"Are you distracting my worker?" He jeered. "Get out of here Princess 101. And you, get back to work."

Halune shook her head and took another sip of water before moving to organize the various hair products on one of the shelves. She heard the sound of Amata's soft footsteps fading into the hallway.

"Here, four eyes." Butch's loud voice jarred her from her thoughts once more. She looked up to see him unwrapping a candy bar. Before he gave it to her, however, he took a large bite out of it and handed it over, a smug expression on his face. She rolled her eyes and ate it anyway. It actually did have caramel in it.

* * *

"Hey," a voice hissed, jerking her out of sleep. She felt a hand roughly shake her shoulder.

She moaned groggily.

"Halune, wake up."

She blinked, bleary eyes to see Butch standing over her bed. "What are you doing?" Her voice was a croak.

"I need your help. I hurt myself pretty badly."

She blinked rapidly several times before registering what he had said. She swung her bare legs out of bed and smoothed down her night gown. "What happened?"

"Well…" he hesitated. "I was trying to get into the liquor cabinet and I managed to drop a bottle and I slipped and fell onto the broken glass."

She gaped at him in the dark for a moment before shaking her head incredulously. "Come on."

It took a while for her to make sure that all the shards of glass were removed from his arm and hip. He sat on the bed looking nervous in only his underwear. Halune ignored that fact and kept up a professional face, trying to look unphased.

Once as all the glass was removed, she dabbed a cloth in alcohol. "This will sting." She promised, gripping his wrist with her free hand as she ran it along the abrasions on his arm. He hissed in pain, but didn't move, much to his credit. She repeated the process on his hip, absently placing her free hand on his knee as a measure to hold him still.

"You know," He remarked. "You're doing a lot better at this, Poindexter."

She shrugged. "I've gotten used to blood by now, I guess." She didn't tell him that she felt slightly queasy. She threw away the blood soaked rags and began gently wrapping his wounds with gauze. "Next time you decide to steal shit, do it the right way."

He laughed, a nervous sound coming from his throat. "Yeah, I think I've learned my lesson by now, thanks." There was a beat of silence. "So, can I ask you not to tell anyone?"

His eyes were serious when they met hers. "Why would I pass up a chance to turn your ass in when you did the same to me?" She secured the gauze on his arm and moved to wrap his hips, feeling awkward at the closeness this caused. Particularly when she had to pass the gauze from one hand to the next behind him in an almost embrace.

"Yeah, you have a point…" He sighed. "You know, I could get your BB gun back for you."

"And then you'd want me to call it even and not tell anyone?" She raised an eyebrow and looked at him, their faces far too close. She looked down, blushing, and continued wrapping his wounds.

"I guess that's the hope."

She shook her head and chuckled. "Fine, but you have to go easy on me with the cleaning chores. Deal?" She secured the gauze and took a step back, reclaiming her personal space.

He quickly dressed into his jumpsuit again, jumping to his feet. "Deal." He placed his hand on the skin of her shoulder, exposed under the spaghetti straps from her nightgown. "Thanks Nosebleed."

She snorted out a laugh and rolled her eyes at that and tried to step back, but was held in place by his hand on her shoulder.

"I mean it."

She flushed slightly as he took a step forward, not taking his hand off her. "Uh, yeah, you're welcome." Her eyes darted about nervously. "No problem."

He curled a finger under her chin and raised her face so that they met eyes. She froze, nerves feeling electric. He smiled that trademark cocky grin and lightly rapped his knuckles on her cheek, leaving her standing in the middle of the clinic in just her nightgown wishing she had asked for some of his stolen alcohol to calm the butterflies in her stomach.

* * *

 **So we have an almost romantic moment! More of that to come! Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4: December

**So here's a tiny bit of trouble in paradise. I hope you like it!**

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The next few days with Butch were tense. Halune kept avoiding his gaze and pointedly noticed that he picked on her less. He even took some of his lunch breaks with her when he was able and they sat in the diner awkwardly making conversation that consisted of him making playful jabs at Halune.

She got to relax more at the shop and only did the work that was actually required of her instead of the tedious tasks that she had been assigned previously. She spent the rest of her time curled up on the couch reading or drawing while Butch threw things at her when he was bored. Their time together had become a lot less miserable and when half of her punishment was up, Butch's birthday had rolled around.

He had taken the day off and was seated with his gang at the diner, a large cake set in the center of the table.

Halune walked into the diner, knowing she would find him there. The four men laughed boisterously and she rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered to show up.

"Here Tunnel Rat," She grunted, placing a box on the table in front of Butch. "Happy 18." She moved to walk away when Freddie and Wally made noises at her but Butch called after her.

"Hey, stick around. If it's a radroach I need you here so I can kick your ass."

She grinned. "At least I know what I'm getting you for Christmas now."

"Haha. Very funny Nosebleed." He opened the package with the other members of the gang eyeing Halune suspiciously. He lifted the lid on the box to reveal a gleaming switchblade with a snake carved on the handle. He paused to stare at in disbelief as the others gave her bewildered stares.

"You're actually giving me something nice? Have you gone and fallen for me now?" His grin was unbearably smug as it stretched all the way across his face.

"No! It's just for, y'know... Not being too much of a dick lately? I dunno! Shut the fuck up! I thought… it was… you know… fitting. So, yeah." She scuffed her feet before turning to leave, a bright blush on her cheeks.

"Thanks Poindexter." His voice sounded sincere and she just waved casually to acknowledge him before walking away sheepishly.

* * *

It was a few days before Christmas and Halune's punishment was almost up. She had a little over a week until she was free to spend her off time how she chose. She had gotten used to stopping by the shop after her shifts and thought it was somewhat surreal that soon she wouldn't have to do it anymore.

She was straightening out magazines when the overseer suddenly walked in, waving at the guards to shut the doors so that it was just the three of them in the room. Butch eyed him nervously.

"What's up man?" He asked, whipping his hands on a towel and leaning against the salon chair.

Halune paused her sorting to fix her eyes on the pair of them, a knot in her stomach. She didn't know why. But she could feel the tension in the air.

"I've received word that you broke into the diner not too long ago and stole several items for yourself."

Butch gaped at him and then cast an accusatory glance at Halune who shook her head, eyes wide.

"I cannot punish you for underage drinking, as you are now 18 and allowed to drink, however I know you were underage when this event happened. But I can charge you with breaking and entering as well as theft and destruction of public property."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about." Butch tried to act confidant, but his hands were balled up tensely.

"You know very well what I'm talking about and my sources are reliable. Starting at the end of Halune's punishment, I believe it would be fitting for you to be assigned to her clinic for cleaning duty as well as you paying for everything that you took. That's about… 500 dollars worth of liquor."

Butch shook his head disbelievingly as the overseer turned to Halune.

"As for you, young miss, I know that you assisted in helping him to cover up this crime, although I can't imagine why as I know he's been overworking you here in this shop, but either way, your punishment will be extended by two weeks. Yours," He turned to Butch. "Won't start until that two weeks is up. I hope you both know that your trouble making in this vault won't be tolerated. They may be minor crimes, however I have put up with this behavior long enough. You may be valuable citizens, but you're not free to do as you wish."

With that, the overseer left the shop, his hands clasped confidently behind his back.

Once as he was gone, Butch rounded on Halune. "What the hell man?" He strode up to her, anger plastered on his face. "I thought you weren't going to rat me out."

"I didn't!" She countered. "I swear, it wasn't me. You heard him, he blames me too."

"Bullshit. You were the only one who knew."

"That's why I find this odd, because I didn't tell anyone." She stood her ground, arms crossed over her chest.

"Yeah right. I should have known better than to trust you. I knew I should have just gone to your dad instead." He turned away from her and began angrily slamming things down as he put things away. "I don't have 500 dollars."

"Butch, it wasn't me."

"You can go." His tone was low and finite.

She stood there stiffly before turning and leaving, dragging the cleaning cart behind her, feeling very much like a kicked puppy.

* * *

 **So, I'm really excited for what I have planned after this chapter! It's going to be great, I promise!**


	5. Chapter 5: Christmas in the Vault

**This chapter was a little hard to write, but I managed to get something down. Let me know if there are any context errors.**

* * *

Still convinced that Halune had ratted him out, Butch had reverted back to making rude comments towards her and making her do far too much work. She had almost made friends with him. She couldn't believe that she had tried to make friends with someone so immature. He didn't even want to hear her side of the story and refused to believe her innocence.

His pranks were a lot less light hearted now as well and he kept making vicious jabs at her looks and personality. She almost wished that she hadn't given him that stupid present.

"Move it Poindexter, some of us are actually trying to get shit done."

"Fuck off," she spat as he pushed her roughly to the side.

She went back to sweeping and overheard what two girls were saying from the couch nearby.

"Did you hear that the Overseer is arranging marriages?" One of the girls muttered.

"What?!" Hissed the other, dropping her magazine onto her lap.

"Apparently we need to grow our numbers because they've fallen too far and he needs to take preventative measures to ensure our safety. I hear Amata's going to be married to Freddie."

"Wow. She got lucky."

Halune wanted to spit that that wasn't lucky at all, being forced to marry someone without her consent. She kept her thoughts to herself, however and kept working.

She hadn't heard a word from Amata recently. They had spoken once about a week ago and Amata had scolded her for helping Butch get away with stealing. Halune tried to object that she'd only patched up his wounds, but Amata had cut her off. She believed that Halune was falling into the wrong crowd quickly.

She cast a glare at Butch who was trimming someone's hair at the moment. He caught her looking at him through the mirror and stared at her coldly until she broke eye contact and began dusting the shelves.

He hadn't had a chance to get her BB gun back and she doubted he'd even try now. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair and pushed her sleeves back up.

Knowing the Christmas party was tomorrow was the only thing keeping her going. She had gotten something for Amata that she hoped would make her forgive her and she still had something for Butch that she had decided she was going to keep for herself now.

"I wonder who Butch will be married to?" One of the girls mused, staring longingly at the delinquent who was oblivious to their attention.

"I hear the Overseer's waiting until his match turns 18 to marry him off."

"We're both already 18. So who's that leave then?" One of them sighed, not even trying to hide her disappointed look.

The other girl listed off only three names. Halune was one of them.

She peered through a curtain of her hair to see them glaring at her as if it was her fault.

She shuddered at the idea of being married to that asshole and put the duster back on the cart only to catch Butch eyeing her through the mirror again.

* * *

That night, Halune sat in the lounge. Everyone else had probably went to bed and she was the only soul in the world as far as she was concerned. She quietly read while laying on her stomach on one of the couches.

A soft whirring took her attention from the book.

"I'm sorry madame. However you aren't yet 18 and therefore must return home or I will be forced to report you for breaking curfew." It was Andy.

"Come on man, can't you just let it slide? I promise I won't get into trouble." She folded the corner of her book and shut it anyway.

"I'm afraid not. I'm required to report anything suspicious that I might find to the Overseer."

She sat up. "Aren't you usually in the diner?"

"Yes." He answered automatically. "I typically am in hibernation mode every night, however, due to my apparent usefulness as a century as of late, I have been allowed to patrol for most of the night. A most honorable job that I take very seriously."

"Wait, as of late?" She pictured the hibernation port sitting in the diner corner. "Are you still active when you're in hibernation mode?"

"Yes, I wait until I am needed when hibernation mode is activated."

Halune paused for a moment, picturing the liquor cabinet in the diner. "Did you see Butch stealing shit not that long ago?"

"Yes, I did in fact. Oh, wait. Should I have told you that?"

She sighed. "Thank you Andy." She decided to suck up to the robot's ego and added, "You really are a great century. Because of that, I'm going to respect you and go back to my room and obey curfew from now on."

"Thank you miss! You have no idea how much that means to me! I'm glad that I have had an effect on you!"

She smiled and strode past him and into her room.

* * *

The Christmas party wasn't that different from the Halloween party. The Overseer really wasn't that creative. All he seemed to know was how to order people to turn on music, set out food and make sure everyone behaved.

Halune sat at the edge of the party, looking for a few people in particular.

She figured that she wouldn't find Butch here since he thought these events were lame since they mostly involved dancing.

She watched the security guard at the beverage table carefully until she saw him step away, then she strode forward, hoping the Santa hat she wore masked who she was to anyone that might look her way. She even wore a red skirt with white trim and a red sweater with matching white trim. She'd had to make it herself, of course.

Once at the table, she cast a sly glance around and poured herself some of the punch. It was the kind that had alcohol in it. She needed to calm her nerves if she was going to talk to either Amata or Butch tonight. She poured a little extra whiskey into the punch before taking several steps away from the table and darted out the door.

She gulped the alcohol down way too quickly and felt it slowly seep into her body as she made her way through the corridors until she found Butch and his gang in the cigar lounge, smoking.

"Oh, it's your little lost puppy," Wally grunted, letting out a disgusting sounding laugh.

Halune rolled her eyes, feeling the alcohol fueling her temper. "Fuck off," she barked before turning to Butch. "You fucked up dumb ass."

Butch stared at her incredulously. "How so?"

"Let's talk." She jerked her head to the other end of the room.

"Whatever you have to say you can say it here."

"Okay, fine then." She crossed her arms, and fixed him with a glare. "Did you know that Andy is fixed with a sentry mode? Even while hibernating?" She let her words hang in the air until Butch realized what she meant.

"Shit."

"Yep, so you've been blaming me this whole time when it was your own goddamn fault for stealing right in front of the Overseer's lap dog."

Butch was at a loss for words.

"That really messes up a lot of stunts I wanted to pull then..." Paul mumbled, looking worried.

"So," Butch rubbed the back of his neck. "You really didn't rat me out?"

"Really," She stated flatly, her expression dull and her jaw clenched.

"Well, shit." He cast a glance to the others who were glancing between the two of them cautiously. "I really thought that you'd be really happy to turn me in."

"What ever asshole." She turned around and was about to leave the room when Andy himself floated in.

"I'm sorry miss, but I couldn't help but to notice that your blood alcohol content is far too high. You're only seventeen and therefore are not allowed to drink any alcohol at all."

"You can scan my blood even while I'm just standing here?" She growled.

"I can indeed. Now if you'd please follow me, I need to take you to the Overseer's office."

The alcohol still hadn't done anything to calm her down, it was only making her temper worse.

"Fuck off."

She darted past him and he called after her. "If you insist on evading the law, I'll be forced to use lethal force."

She stopped. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I'm afraid not. I'd really rather not hurt you miss."

"Sure, Andy. Sure." She crossed her arms. "Fine, let's go see the douchebag Overseer."

"Please do not address him as so."

"Whatever."

She cast a glance at Butch and his gang who were eying her warily as she strode after the robot, holding her head high.

* * *

"I can't believe you were drinking under age," Her father muttered, pacing nervously. "You're already in enough trouble as it is."

"Sorry," She mumbled. Even though she was a disobedient child, she hated making her dad upset for real. He didn't mind most of the stunts she pulled, but this one apparently went too far.

"Not only that, but you yelled at the Overseer two months ago, and again today. Are you unable to control yourself?" He ran a hand through his hair, worry lines evident on his face. "How is anyone supposed to trust you with their health when they can't trust that you won't do something illegal?"

She pressed her lips into a line. "I don't know." She clasped her hands in her lap.

"The Overseer wants to permanently move you to cleaning duty." James sat on the couch next to her and leaned his elbows on his lap. "I don't want that kind of life for you. I want you to be happy and safe."

"I know, dad. I'm sorry." She still couldn't meet his eyes.

He sighed, a long sound. "I'm going to see if I can try to convince him to let you stay at the clinic, but only if you promise me that you won't get into anymore trouble."

She nodded, finally meeting his eyes, feeling like a disappointment. Her father never scolded her.

"Okay sweetie. But please remember, what you do is important. Every little action has a consequence and I hope that you can think twice before you act and keep yourself out of undesirable situations."

She nodded, looking back down at the floor.

"I'm going to talk to the Overseer now. I'll see you soon sweetie." He kissed her on the forehead before standing up and leaving.

She sighed and got up to make herself something to eat to kill the alcohol buzz. After several minutes, she heard a knock on her door. Praying it wasn't the Overseer for some reason, she moved cautiously to the entrance and opened the door.

It was Butch, holding a bag of sorts.

"Hey, can I come in?" He asked, not even waiting for an answer before stepping through the threshold. He shut the door behind him and sat perched on her kitchen table.

She sighed, and continued making herself food.

"I'm sorry I thought it was you," He mumbled. "It just seemed so obvious. It was too good to be true that you might actually want to be nice to me."

She shook her head. "I'm not as much of a dick as you are." She took a bite of her sandwich and opened the fridge to retrieve a water.

"Okay okay, I deserved that. But look, I'm here to make it up to you."

She glanced at him suspiciously.

"Look, I'm not going to make this any more difficult than it has to be. So here." He shoved the bag into her arms just as the door opened. It was her father.

"Mr. Deloria. May I ask what you're doing here with my daughter?" He barely contained his suspicion as he crossed his arms, addressing his daughter's long time bully.

"I was just giving her her Christmas present sir." Butch tucked his hands into his pockets and zipped out the door and was gone without another word.

Halune opened the bag and in shock, pulled out her BB gun. She looked at her dad who raised his eyebrow in astonishment. She shook her head and sat it on the table. "Do you think we'll be allowed to keep it?"

He sighed. "Probably not. The Overseer will guess that it was you who took it."

She nodded sadly and brushed her fingers over the worn material.

"I'll take it back tomorrow sweetie. You can shoot with it tonight if you want, but that's it."

She nodded sadly. "You're not going to tell the Overseer that it was Butch that took it back, are you?"

"No, sweetie. That was very kind of him to think of you like that."

She nodded, packing the gun back into the bag and heading out again.

* * *

 **Alright, in the next chapter or two, things get real!**


	6. Chapter 6: I'm Not Going to Tell You

**Alright, so far this is all going really well according to plan! I'm so excited for the next few chapters. They're going to be great! Lots of LW/Butch.**

* * *

It was Christmas day and Halune woke up with a bit of a hangover. She pinched the bridge of her nose and fumbled on her bedside table for the glass of water she always kept on hand. She gulped it down greedily and put on her glasses. She knew that she had forgot to talk to Amata yesterday and felt guilty for it. She reached under her bed and retrieved her gift and Butch's as well. She decided that she would give it to him after all, seeing as he finally saw the light.

She dressed slowly, so as not to make her headache feel worse.

Running a hand through her hair, she stepped out of her room and was met with the bright lights of the kitchen.

"Good morning sweetie," her father called out. He was making breakfast. Jonah was seated on their couch, flipping through their collection of holotapes of old movies.

"Morning," She yawned. "I have to go give Amata and Butch their presents and then I'll be right back, okay?"

Jonah looked up with surprise and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and slipped on her shoes.

"Okay honey," Her dad replied. "But I need to talk to you when you get back, sweetheart."

She eyed him suspiciously for a moment before nodding. "Okay. See you soon."

The Overseer had taken to playing quiet Christmas music over the intercom throughout the hallways and Halune found it soothing. She had always liked Christmas music, even though some found it annoying.

Her feet automatically traced the back to Amata's. She hesitated for a moment and knocked on the door.

The Overseer answered. "What is it?" He growled.

"Uhm, Merry Christmas." She replied, lamely. "Is Amata here?"

His eyes narrowed, seeing the package in her hands. "Just a minute."

Amata appeared in the doorway a moment later, crossing her arms at the sight of Halune.

"I got you a Christmas gift that's also an early birthday present." She held out the biggest package.

Amata gingerly took it from her hands and ripped the plain brown paper from it. She stared for a minute at the La Fantoma comic books in front of her. "Is this the whole collection?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah," Halune replied with a smile. "I know you like them."

"Wow, thanks." She offered Halune a small smile. "I have to talk to you though." She stepped out of the doorway and shut the door so that the two of them were alone in the hallway.

Halune folded her hands around the small package for Butch and waited nervously.

"I heard that you got drunk and yelled at my dad yesterday."

Halune fidgeted nervously. "Yeah, I guess alcohol only makes me mad. Or maybe it's just specifically whiskey."

"You know you can't drink yet."

She nodded. "I know. I just... was trying to work up the courage to tell Butch off and talk to you again. I really didn't want things to be sour between us."

Amata smiled a little. It almost looked sad. "Look, I'm going to be the overseer someday and I'm going to need to put on a professional face. If my best friend is causing trouble and I'm allowing it, that's not going to look good on me, ever."

"I know." Halune cast a glance at the ceiling. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I don't think before I act."

Amata shrugged. "You've always been reckless." She smiled softly. "I probably won't see you for a while... but... did you want to be my maid of honor? My father's having me marry Freddie Gomez. He says arranged marriages are the only way to make sure we have enough genetic diversity to make sure we have a future."

Halune smiled softly. "Yeah, I'll be your maid of honor."

Amata smiled. "Who's that for?" She pointed to the package in Halune's hands still.

"Oh, uh, it's for that asshole, Butch." She shifted her weight uncomfortably.

Amata looked startled but then gave Halune a strange look. "I guess you already know then. I'm sorry. Look, I have to go. Good luck. See you later."

Halune nodded, puzzled before waving as her friend disappeared into the apartment again.

* * *

When Halune got to Butch's apartment, she knocked on the door and Ellen Deloria answered it.

She seen Halune and without greeting her shouted over her shoulder, "Butch! Your girlfriend's here!"

Halune's eyes widened and Butch stumbled to the door, his hair not yet styled.

"Shit, why are you up so early?" He was wearing only pajama pants with his lean torso completely exposed.

"Uh, it's nine o'clock." She answered lamely.

He grunted and scowled at Ellen. "She's not my girlfriend ma, now get outta here."

Ellen scowled at her son before making her way back into the apartment.

"Why don't you come in?" He offered, waving a hand to gesture towards the doorway. She followed him into the dim apartment and noticed that a lot of the light bulbs were burnt out. "Sorry about the mess," He muttered, kicking a few bottles out of the way.

His mother sat at a table drinking what looked like a beer. Halune offered a small smile which Ellen didn't return.

They made their way to Butch's bedroom where Butch flopped himself onto the bed and groaned tiredly, looking all too sensual while laying on his back with his arms tucked under his head.

"I, uh," She mumbled. "I brought you a present."

She handed him the small package. He smirked as he pried open the paper. Eventually he pulled out a pair of shears with snakes painted on the handles. He chuckled and shook his head.

"I couldn't think of anything else. I'm not very creative, so I just keep going with the Tunnel Snake theme I guess." She shifted awkwardly.

"No," I like it. "This is something that I can actually show off to everyone."

They exchanged smiles before the yelling started.

"Butch! Where the fuck is my whiskey?!"

Halune noticed that Butch's face paled.

"One second," He mumbled. He stood up and opened the door. "You drank it last night ma."

"No, I didn't," Ellen snapped, throwing a bottle that shattered against the doorframe. "I only drank half of it. I know you drank it Butch. You greedy little shit." She threw another bottle which Butch had to duck to avoid. He swore and shut the door, sighing. "You'd better go Poindexter."

She stared at him with concerned eyes for a minute. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." His face didn't look very confidant.

"You know, it's just my dad and Jonah and me. You could hang out with us for the day if your mom is going to be like this. My dad's making breakfast."

"Nah, I don't think they'd want me there."

"It'll be fine," She assured him, a soft smile morphing over her features.

Another bottle broke against the door. "You know, that doesn't sound so bad. Let me get dressed."

Halune turned away while he tugged off his pajama pants and stepped into his jumpsuit. She heard the sound of the zipper being pulled up and the sound of his leather jacket being tugged on before he zipped that up too. He sat on the bed next to her and tugged on his boots before he stood up and quickly fixed his hair.

"Alright, I'm ready."

She chuckled and stood up.

Butch placed his hands on her shoulders protectively as he opened the door and rushed to get out of the apartment as his mother threw more bottles at him. One of them hit him in the back, but they made it out relatively unscathed.

"Are you alright?" Halune asked.

"Yeah, yeah," He said quickly. "It's fine."

He didn't seem to notice that he still had an arm around her as he led her towards her own apartment. She didn't say anything, but she felt her face flush. She shifted slightly when they got closer to her door and he moved his arm quickly, as if he only finally noticed. She didn't say anything as she opened the door and led him inside.

"Hey," Butch mumbled, holding a hand up in greeting.

"Butch," James choked out, sounding surprised. "What brings you here?"

"I asked him to spend Christmas with us," Halune blurted taking his hand and leading him to her room.

He awkwardly followed and she shut the door behind him, worrying about what Jonah might be thinking after seeing her with Butch again. She sighed and plopped on her bed.

She gestured for Butch to do the same. He perched on the edge of the mattress, his hands tucked in his pockets.

"So," Halune said after a while. "Is your mom always like that?"

He sighed. "Sometimes. When she works herself up. I still love her though." He sighed. "I don't really wanna talk about it though."

Halune nodded. "Okay, that's fine. But if you ever do, I'm here, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever Nosebleed."

She rolled her eyes.

"Hey man, do you have a piece of paper and a pen I could borrow?"

She nodded, confused and pulled out her notebook and pen and handed it to him.

"Do you have sketch paper instead? Something thicker."

She sighed and pulled out her sketchbook. She quickly flipped the page away from a drawing she had been working on of her dad.

"Wait, let me see that." Butch tugged the book out of her hands and eyed the sketch of her father. "This is really good." Without asking, he flipped through the previous pages and found pictures that she had drawn of made up people as well as a few people in her life. He even passed one of Amata. And then stopped at one of him.

Her heart stopped. She immediately felt very uncomfortable and refused to meet his eyes. "I was really bored that day," She added as a disclaimer.

It was a picture of Butch leaning against a wall in his Tunnel Snakes' jacket while lighting a cigarette and looking coolly towards the ground. Butch didn't say anything for a while and Halune wanted to hide under her bed and never come out. Finally he let out a nervous laugh. "I'm glad you know what real art is." He said finally, trying to obtain that cocky tone he always used, but there was something else in his voice too.

"Yeah, sure. Look, it doesn't mean anything okay?" She met his eyes firmly, defiantly.

He nodded, holding her gaze. "Okay." He looked back down and flipped to a clean page before writing something down on two pages of paper and neatly ripping them from the book.

"Let's go see what your dad made to eat, yeah?"

"Yeah," she breathed, relieved.

They left the room and Butch handed one sheet of paper to Jonah and one to her dad. "It's not much, but it's all I could really think of." He explained. "It's good for a free hair cut at my shop if you want... Merry Christmas."

"Thanks," Jonah said, tucking it in his pocket.

"Yes, thank you Butch. That's very kind of you. I'm afraid I didn't get anything for you."

Butch shrugged. "That's okay."

"Well, breakfast is done," James announced. "So I hope everyone's hungry, because I've made a lot."

Halune grinned. "I'm starving."

Butch stepped over to the table and sat down with everyone else, a faint smile on his face. "Thanks," He silently mouthed to Halune as her dad placed a plate in front of him.

* * *

 **Okay, so we have Amata's wedding coming up and then Halune's birthday! So look forward to that! I'm going to get some sleep now, but I'll post more tomorrow! Let me know what you think so far!**


	7. Chapter 7: Eighteen

**So, I lied. I'm posting this chapter tonight too. I had too many ideas of how I wanted certain scenes to go so I started to jot them down and then they kept growing until they were a whole chapter. I might expand Amata's wedding scene later, but for now, here's this.**

* * *

"Are you excited for your wedding?" Amata asked, smoothing her hair and adjusting the fake flowers that were woven into her braids.

"I dunno," Halune shrugged. She still didn't know who she was going to be paired with.

"I just want you to know that I'm going to be here for you, okay? Everything will be okay. I'm sure he's going to be a fine man."

"Thanks," she mumbled, smoothing the front of her dress. It didn't stop her from feeling nervous. "I hope that you'll be happy with Freddie."

Amata smiled. "He's a good guy. I'll be okay." Her expression almost seemed apologetic.

"Well, we're off soon," she mumbled, gesturing for Halune to go ahead. She would be walking out with the best man. It was, of course, Butch.

She stepped out and sheepishly took his arm when he offered it to her. He didn't look her in the eye as they walked together towards the altar. It wasn't even her getting married and yet her heart felt like it wanted to burst out of her chest and run away screaming. Some old music started to play as they situated themselves behind the stage on either side. Halune shifted and adjusted her hair a little before taking to fidgeting with her lip piercings again while she waited to see Amata being led down the aisle by the Overseer.

Amata smiled at Freddie, who was waiting on the altar for her. He returned the smile and Halune felt a pang of envy. She hoped that whoever she ended up with, that they'd at least be willing to make it work like these two were.

* * *

Several days later, Halune was seated in the diner for her party. It felt like all the ones prior, except now she was turning eighteen.

She had invited Amata and Butch and had even told Butch he could bring the other Tunnel Snakes if he so desired. She was more interested in inviting Paul and Freddie rather than Wally, but she'd feel bad leaving him out, knowing that he'd wanna be where his gang was. Thankfully, Wally didn't show up anyways and it was the two better mannered Tunnel Snakes, plus Butch.

He was already fighting with Jonah to cut the cake. Jonah had told him to wait until they'd sung to Halune, but Butch had argued that singing was lame and had sliced an even line down the middle of the cake before Jonah could stop him. Halune just laughed as she watched the two fight. She didn't really care either way if she was sung to or not. She did agree, it was kinda lame. It made her uncomfortable to have all that attention on her. She prefered to be singing along rather than to be sung to.

Finally Jonah had wrestled the knife away from Butch when her dad had scolded them to not endanger themselves and everyone around them and argued that he didn't want himself or Halune to have to work on her birthday. Butch had given up after saying that he wasn't singing.

"Good," Amata had snorted, giggling when she earned a glare from Butch.

Halune grinned at her and Amata raised her hand for a high five.

A couple of hours later, they had all had some cake and were seated around the table talking about useless things.

"It's time to open your presents," James announced wrapping an arm around her. "But first," he handed her a pointed pink party hat with streamers printed on it. "Put this on."

"Dad!" She shrieked. "No way!"

"Put it on, or you won't get any presents from me."

"Goddamm-"

"Don't swear, sweetie."

She rolled her eyes and put the rediculous hat on, wearing it as a unicorn horn for a minute until she got a chuckle out of a few of the guests. Then she put it on normally as people placed their presents on the table for her.

"I gotta go now." Butch muttered. "Come here, I wanna give you your present." They stepped over to the far edge of the room. He handed her a small package.

She stared at it cautiously before shaking it and trying to guess what it was. She had just started to open it when he began to walk away. She stared after him as she pulled off the last of the paper. She revealed a small worn box. She opened it and nearly dropped it when she saw what was inside. A small ring sat nestled in between two pieces of folded cardboard. He hands shook as she pulled it out of the box and she glanced over her shoulder at everyone behind her. They hadn't seen it. She quickly tucked the ring in her pocket, feeling a soft buzzing behind her eyes.

"What did he get you?" Amata asked curiously.

"Uhm, it was a necklace." She lied, trying to drop the subject immediately. "Now the real question is what did _you_ get me?"

"What does the necklace look like?" Amata asked handing her a package.

"I thought he was going to get you something else," Freddie asked, frowning as he exchanged a glance with Amata who shrugged her shoulders.

"Uh, well, y'know." Halune shrugged, prying off the paper quickly and revealing a box that contained... high heels. She pulled one out of the box and stared at it uncomfortably. "Do I use it to stab people?"

"No!" Amata laughed. "It's for when you have your wedding. It's from Freddie and me.

"Right," she rolled her eyes, still feeling weak from receiving a ring from Butch. What the hell did it mean? "But I didn't have to wear high heels at your wedding."

Amata shook her head. "You're wearing them, and that's final."

"I think you just want to see me trip on my way down the aisle." Halune commented dryly, placing the shoe back in the box and closing it.

"At least James will be there to catch you," Paul added, handing Halune a card that contained twenty bucks. "I didn't know what else to get you, so here's this. Don't spend it all in one place."

Halune smiled, reading the card aloud. It was a generic vault card with a few smart comments added by Paul and maybe the other Tunnel Snakes too. She was thankful they had made it funny instead of vulgar.

Jonah had gotten her a dress. It was white with lace sleeves and lace sides down the sides of the skirt. "That's also for your wedding," He added. "I had Amata help me pick it out."

"Thanks," Halune wanted to throw a sarcastic remark at him, but it actually looked really nice. She ran her fingers over the silky material. 'Wow, thank you."

Jonah shrugged, grinning proudly.

"You'll have to wait until you get my present sweetie," Her dad added apologetically. "But for now, enjoy your party."

She nodded as her dad began to clean up and she chattered with the other teenagers. She kept sticking her hand in her pocket to feel the ring and every time it shocked her when she realized that it was real, and that Butch had actually given it to her.

* * *

 **Guess what happens next.**


	8. Chapter 8: Marriage

**Here it is! I hope you guys like it!**

* * *

"Dad," She barked, stepping into the apartment after her party. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She dropped her shoes and dress on the couch and flopped onto the armchair next to it.

"What do you mean, sweetie?" He looked mildly alarmed.

She fiddled with her pipboy for a minute, a knot forming in her stomach. "Who am I getting married to? All signs seem to point in one direction even though I've been pretending that my intuition is wrong. I feel like everyone else seems to know except for me."

Her dad nodded and sucked in a long breath. "Who would you like to get married to?"

"I dunno, no one? I don't think I'm ready for that shi- ...stuff yet." She bit back swearing as her father didn't like it when she did.

"Well, who do you think it is?" He seated himself on the coffee table in front of her so that they were facing one another.

She paused for a long moment, nerves on fire. "Butch."

Her father nodded, his lips curving into a small, reassuring smile. "The two of you have at least been getting along better now, as of late. I was going to tell you at Christmas breakfast, but you invited him over so I thought maybe you already knew."

She gave a tiny nod, her skin feeling all tingly. "Why Butch though?"

Her dad sighed. "The Overseer calculated genetics via a computer to see who would create the healthiest and most diverse children."

"So, he didn't do it just because he is a sadist who wants to see me paired with my childhood bully?"

"You two don't seem to be rivals anymore. I noticed it a while ago, but then you started fighting again, but now you're spending more time with him of your own accord. I think you can make this work."

She didn't say anything, just stared at the floor. "When's the wedding?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" She squeaked. "That soon? I'm not even given any time to mentally prepare?"

"I thought you already knew, sweetheart. Especially when you invited him over for Christmas and your birthday. I figured you just didn't want to talk about it. That's what everyone thought."

She sighed. "Oh..."

Her father abruptly stood up. "I have your present for you. Follow me."

She did.

He led her to his room where he pulled a box out from under his bed. "Happy birthday sweetie."

She took the box from him and noted that it was kind of heavy. She lifted the lid and was shocked to see what looked like a pistol.

"I knew you couldn't get away with having your BB gun, so you can have one of my old pistols. It's a 10mm. Just be careful with it. This can actually cause some serious damage."

She pulled it out, feeling the cold and heavy object in her hand. Its weight was somewhat reassuring and she admired the way it gleamed. "Thank you dad," She whispered, checking it over to familiarize herself with the safety and the ammo clip.

"Let me show you how to shoot with a pistol, I know it's different than your old BB gun."

She grinned and nodded, the two of them heading to their makeshift range with the gun tucked safely out of sight.

* * *

She hadn't seen Butch at all since her birthday. She was pacing back and forth while Amata tried to fuss over her hair.

"Would you hold still?" The other girl demanded, violently yanking on a curl that she had been trying to fix in place. "I know you're nervous, but you're making me nervous too."

"Sorry," she mumbled, clenching her hands into fists, trying to stop them from shaking. The dress that she wore was a little too tight and it made it hard to breathe. She furiously pressed buttons on her pipboy, trying to distract herself somehow. Her blood rate was elevated and she immediately flipped to the next screen, looking for anything to take her mind off of things.

When Amata was finally finished fixing her hair, she glanced over nervously.

"What was it like when you got married? Were you this nervous?"

Amata gripped her friend's hand, seeing the panic in her eyes. "Yes, but I knew that everything was going to be okay. Butch hasn't been picking on you lately. I think he's grown out of it."

"Yeah, sure," She mumbled, resisting the urge to rub her face. Amata had gone to great lengths to do her make up.

"Are you ready, sweetie?" Her dad asked, stepping into the room.

She nodded faintly, wanting to hide under anything that she could.

* * *

The wedding was much like Amata's. Everyone had gathered in the room in folding chairs and she was led to the altar by her father. It took all of her concentration to walk in a straight line and she immediately wished that she had decided to drink before hand.

Butch would occasionally glance over at her, his eyes darting about nervously. He was dressed in black pants and a white suit top with a black undershirt. Somehow it suited him.

She barely registered when they had reached the altar and her dad was suddenly gone from her side. She glanced at him wildly as he left to take his seat.

"Please take hands," the Overseer commanded, flipping open a book to read their supposed vows to them.

She kept her eyes focused on Butch's tie, not finding the courage to look him in the eyes as the Overseer droned on. His hands were cool and clammy in her own and she wondered if hers were too.

She had given him the ring back for the ceremony, and when the time came, he slipped it on her shaking finger. Her heart pounded.

She gave him his ring, her trembling fingers somehow managing to get it on his finger. Once as that was done, he grasped her shaking hands and gave them a reassuring squeeze. She looked up into his face for the first time and saw that he wasn't meeting her eyes either.

"You may now kiss the bride," The Overseer concluded.

Her body just froze when she heard these words. She had known that this would happen, but it was still somewhat shocking. She'd be kissing Butch Deloria. Her... husband.

Her stomach spasmed once and she thanked whatever gods that she didn't throw up right then and there. Butch let go of her hands and placed one hand on her shoulder and lifted her chin with the other.

They met eyes for the first time and she suddenly noticed the same panic in his eyes that was mirrored in her wide ones. He cautiously stepped forward and pressed his lips to hers, the feeling so foreign. Her heart gave a painful squeeze as he kissed her softly before pulling away. She could hear her blood roaring in her veins.

The crowd applauded and Butch took her hand and gently led her away from the altar and to the area set up for food instead.

They barely said a word to each other as the night went on, as if both of them were in shock, trying to pretend what just happened hadn't happened.

* * *

 **So, next chapter will be their first night together! Let me know what you think please! It really helps me!**


	9. Chapter 9: Until Death Do We Part

**So, according to the site, no one has viewed this story, but I don't care! I'm going to keep writing anyway!**

* * *

That night was one of the most awkward of her life. The public humiliation of being nervous with her new husband and being congratulated like she had achieved something was... just too much. To make matters worse, however, she had to get her close family and friends even more involved in their awkwardness. They had already been given an apartment and spent most of the night moving things. Butch, having been more informed than she was, had most of his things packed already. She found herself stuffing things into boxes, not even caring what went into which box. She figured that she could go through it all later. And it would make for a good distraction.

She dumped all of her clothes onto her blanket and carried the whole thing over her shoulder like Santa's bag of toys. The only words that she exchanged with Butch were civil, "Excuse me"s and "Should I put this here? Or in the other room?" Nothing that indicated how the other felt about the whole situation.

Ironically, Halune was more concerned that Butch was disgusted to be with her. Of course that didn't make much sense. She didn't even take the real time to consider how she felt about being in this situation. She could maybe stand as having him as a friend, but as a husband?

She tried to picture coming home to him every night, sleeping in the same bed, eating breakfast together every day... She immediately shut down the images. She couldn't handle thinking about it... So how was she supposed to handle living with it? She got to the new apartment... her apartment... their apartment and set down the bag of clothes in the bedroom. She noticed Butch's things scattered about as well and her heart squeezed uncomfortably.

Her father followed behind her and dropped off the last of her things. "Here you are, sweetie. Just remember, if you ever need anything, just call me on your pipboy."

She nodded, trying to tie words together as quickly as she could. She wanted to ask if she could spend the night at his place, but she guessed that that wasn't an option.

Amata exited the kitchen, after having given them their own supply of vault standard dishware that she had carried to their apartment herself. She'd even put them away for the new couple.

"I've got a lot of work to do," Her father announced. "Have a good night, love."

Halune stared at him as he left. She then seized Amata's sleeve and pulled her aside where she could see the door in case Butch or Jonah walked in on their conversation. Jonah had been helping Butch to carry his things as his mother was already asleep for the day.

"I'm scared," She breathed, fixing a panicked stare on Amata. She swept her raven locks over her shoulder and began furiously tugging on them. "What the hell am I supposed to do? What do we talk about? I assume this is some deranged breeding program your father has made up. I'm supposed to have kids with Butch? I'm supposed to have sex with him? I haven't even kissed him!" Her voice was getting shrill. She calmed herself slightly. "Except for at the ceremony... but... that doesn't count. What if I don't want to have sex with him? What if he doesn't want to have sex with me? I can't ask him, especially if he wants a willing woman. That's not fair to either of us. We didn't grow up in some lesser society. We-"

Amata cut off her breathless rant. "Calm down. After time passes, it'll be less awkward once as time passes. Just talk to him about it."

"'Just talk to him about it.' Haha, you're funny. Maybe you feel comfortable talking to Freddie, but I certainly don't feel comfortable when I feel like I could be mocked at any second. He still calls me Nosebleed, you know? He still makes fun of my hair a lot, and how I walk... I don't think I could handle if his insults started getting... intimate..."

Amata stood there for a moment. "I think I know what you mean..." She let out a short breath. "I at least go lucky in that Freddie respects me... I really don't know... You're going to have to let him know that he'd better respect you because neither of you have a choice in the matter. Just stand up to him."

Halune sighed. "Right, thanks. I'll just lay down in bed with him tonight and have a nice chat." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Do I actually have to sleep in the same bed as him?"

"Technically yes," Amata answered, just as Jonah came in carrying another stack of boxes. "Is that everything?" Amata asked, as Butch followed Jonah into the room.

"Almost," Butch grunted, setting down the boxes. "I just need to get a couple more boxes and say bye to my ma."

"There wasn't that much left to get," Jonah remarked. "I'm too old for this. Why don't we leave you two alone and Halune can help you with the last of it?"

Halune opened her mouth to protest, but before she could, Amata already strode past, telling Jonah what a good idea that was. They were both gone in a mater of moments.

Butch watched them go before turning to Halune. Their eyes finally met but he immediately looked away.

"I can handle the last of the stuff if you wanted to start unpacking," He muttered, stepping through the doorway. She watched him go and was left standing there with so many questions.

She decided to unpack a little, like he'd suggested and tried to set things out nicely but gave up halfway through, because she didn't know how he wanted the room to look. After rearranging things several times, she just gave up and set everything out how she wanted. If it was really an issue, he could ask her to change it later.

He dropped off an armful of his different shoes once and then left immediately to get another trip.

She increasingly felt like he was avoiding her. She thought how her father had left as soon as he was able and how Amata and Jonah had too.

They didn't understand. They didn't want to understand. They left her problems to her. She felt alone all of a sudden. Which was ironic considering she was newly married and had a loving father, a great best friend and a cool uncle-figure. There was only one person who really could understand. That was Butch.

She clenched her hands into tight balls and went to the bathroom to take off her make up. He never seen her in make up typically and she wanted their talk to be real. She had already changed out of her dress and heels and had taken out her hair as soon as she was able.

Once as her make up was gone, she felt more like herself and walked out of the bathroom to find Butch going through a box he had dragged over to the couch.

Smoothing the front of her jumpsuit, she decided to suck it up.

She placed herself carefully on the couch cushion next to him.

He didn't look up.

Clearing her throat, she mumbled, "Hey."

"Hey," He echoed, his voice breaking on the syllable.

"What's going on in your head?" She asked, vaguely, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands together to make sure that they weren't shaking.

He didn't answer for a long while. Just when she thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, he finally spoke. "This is all so... archaic. This... I dunno. It feels wrong that we'd be pushed into an arranged marriage. And I ain't talking about us in particular. I mean anyone. No one should be made to marry someone they don't love... I mean, it's not like I hate you or nothin', it's just..." He stopped lamely, setting down the stack of cards he had pulled out of the box. "You know." The last phrase came out a whisper.

"I know..." She began softly, trying to think before she spoke. "I know that everyone else's marriage will be different than ours. We have a history of childhood bullying. And I'd like to discuss that if possible. But for now... I feel like my dad doesn't understand, or just doesn't want to make this his problem because there's nothing he can do about it. He's been so wrapped up in his work lately. Jonah has been too. And Amata... She has a happy relationship with Freddie as far as I know. She won't tell me otherwise, but part of me thinks that she wants to come off as a future overseer at all times so she only does something in name of the vault, regardless of her personal feelings." She sighed, a loud sound in comparison to her soft words. "I guess you might understand what I'm feeling and I might understand what you're feeling, but I don't know for sure. I'm sorry that you got stuck with Poindexter, the class joke." Her voice cracked and she stopped talking.

Butch didn't say anything for a while. Then he stood up and went to the bathroom. That was it. He didn't make any move to correct her, or to tell her that that wasn't how he felt. She didn't know what she had been expecting. They were in an arranged marriage. Why would he want her?

It didn't stop it from hurting though.

She kicked her clothes to the floor and left them in the corner and freed her blanket from under them. She crawled into bed and kicked off her boots at the edge of the mattress, letting them fall to the floor in a succession of solid thunks.

She then covered herself completely with the blankets and curled up into a ball and tried to think of anything else at all. How could this possibly be her life? There had to be something more. Anything more. Not just a sudden unhappy marriage until the day she died.

She finally gave in and allowed herself to cry. What was she supposed to do?

* * *

 **Sorry for the sappiness guys. Anyway, let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10: Where Do We Go?

**Relationship issues! Yay!**

* * *

The next morning, she woke up alone. She'd expected as much.

She got up and moved out into the living room, retrieving clean clothes for the next day from the pile she had left there. She found that everything had been folded. At first she appreciated that, until she realized that it had meant that Butch had touched her underwear too...

She glared at him furiously where he lay sound asleep on the couch. He was dressed in just his white t-shirt and boxer shorts and she looked away sheepishly.

She quickly went to the cupboards and found some snack cakes that she tore into and ate before she got ready and left without saying goodbye.

* * *

At the clinic, she did her usual work, bandaging patients, checking drug inventories, etc. A vast majority of the work was actually paperwork and documentation. It was tedious.

She had completely forgotten about Butch's punishment for stealing liquor until he walked in that morning, looking flustered.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" He demanded, running a hand through his hair. "Now I'm late for my first day of community service. Or whatever you call this. Are you hellbent on screwing up my life?"

"I forgot that you had to be here," She mumbled.

He growled in frustration but was cut off when her father approached him. "That's okay, son. I've already written your time down as having gotten here on time. I figured you two had decided that you needed to give each other space and I wanted to respect that." The emotion in his voice was unreadable.

"Oh," Butch mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, no... I just... sorry. I didn't mean anything..."

"That's quite alright, son," Her dad cut him off. "You can start by cleaning out the bedpans."

Butch went stiff for a minute before groaning. He shrugged off his jacket and threw it at Halune. "I don't know what to do with this, Four-eyes," He grunted.

She glared at him for expecting her to take care of it. She met her father's sorry expression and sighed. She angrily seized the material of the jacket in her fist and threw it in the break room, letting it almost land on a chair and fall onto the ground. She left it there.

She kind of felt bad for everything her dad was making Butch do, but after how he had seen him treat his daughter and knowing how hard he had made life for her when she was cleaning his shop... Well, James was out for blood.

"This is a surgical tool," He barked impatiently. "It needs to be _sterile._ We can't have people getting sick just because you're upset that you have to sanitize the tools."

"You're killing me here doc." Butch took the tweezers from James and went back to sanitizing it, correctly. He even put on the gloves this time.

James took a few steps over to Halune and watched the younger man struggle with the bottles of solution and the heat treatment machine.

"Do you think I'm being too hard on him?" James asked in a low voice. He sounded amused.

"Hell no," Halune replied, snickering. "This is payback for the two months of work he got me into when he ratted me out for the BB gun.

Her father laughed softly. "Well, I think you've done enough work here sweetheart. You can head home. I know Butch has to open his shop in half an hour too. You should have your place to yourself for a few hours."

"Thanks dad." She smiled and raised her voice to address Butch. "Hey Tunnel Rat! Your jacket's in the break room. Bye!"

She turned and left without waiting for a response and strode out of the clinic, waving at Jonah and almost heading for her old apartment with her father. She sighed, and turned around, remembering that she didn't live there anymore.

She walked into the apartment to find that Butch had been in a fury this morning to get ready. Half of everything he had brought out to get ready was still sitting out.

She groaned, exasperated. He'd better not be this messy all the time.

She put away her clothes that he had folded as and unpacked the rest of her stuff. She felt weird unpacking. Part of her didn't feel that this was final. She felt like there had to be some way out of it. Of course, she knew that that wasn't true, but it didn't stop her imagination from running wild.

Once as she had finished putting all of her things away, she scooted the remainder of Butch's boxed into the corner.

Their apartment was set up like a large rectangle over all. The front door opened so that the living room was to your left and the kitchen and dining table were directly in front of you. The kitchen and living area were set up like an L with the bathroom and bedrooms settled into the back left corner, making the L into a large rectangle. The bathroom was set next to the kitchen, probably for convenience so that the water pipes didn't have to be routed all the way across the apartment. Their bedroom was to the left of the bathroom, and the other bedroom was to the left of that.

Her stomach lurched at the thought of the other bedroom. It was set up like a nursery with a crib, toys, etc. It was as if it were a deliberate reminder that they were expected to create children together.

They had kept the door shut at all times.

Finding nothing else to do, she begrudgingly decided to put away the things Butch had left out this morning. She put a cap on the toothpaste and put his hair pomade into the bathroom drawer. She then picked up his still somewhat wet towel and tossed it into the laundry hamper. She then moved to the kitchen to put away the box of cereal her had left out and was surprised to find a couple of bottles of whiskey sitting innocently in the cupboard.

She hesitated. They were most likely Butch's, but now that they were married, they were hers too.

Her mind traveled to her trying to talk to Butch before he just stood up and walked out of the room in the middle of their conversation. She thought of him carelessly throwing his jacket at her this morning, and his constant bitching at her all throughout their workday today.

She took one and brought it to the couch and seated herself on it, folding his blanket from last night and shoving it to the side of the couch. She relaxed back and turned on their tv.

* * *

Butch found her like that when he arrived. She had the whiskey bottle clutched in her hand and was angrily flipping through the selection of movies they had programed into their tv, obviously not finding something she liked.

She aggressively jabbed the remote before sighing loudly and taking another drink, straight from the bottle.

It was then that she noticed Butch.

"Hey," She greeted in a low monotone. She turned her attention back to the tv.

"You know that's mine, right?" He grumbled, staring at her as she took another drink.

"What's yours is mine baby," She growled, continuing to flip channels.

Butch didn't say anything for a long time. Then he hesitantly asked, "You didn't happen to make any food, did you?"

"Nope." She didn't turn to face him, but he saw her eyebrow twitch as she said this.

Sighing, he took off his jacket. "Is this how you always are when you drink? I noticed you were pissed off last time you were drunk too."

"I don't know." She said, a devilish grin spreading over her face. "But I guess you have the privilege of finding that out, don't you?"

"I think you need to lay off the whiskey," He growled.

"Why, so that I won't defend myself when you demand me to make you dinner, clean up your messes, hang up your coat, and rub your feet?" She glared at him. The alcohol giving her eyes a fierce edge that he wasn't used to seeing.

He sighed. "I never said I'd make you do any of that."

"'Hi honey!'" She mocked, in a low impression of his voice. "'I'm home. Where the hell is my dinner? Did you make it? No. Well shit. Stop drinking so that you can do that instead.' Is basically what you just said in a nutshell."

He winced, watching her take another swig. "Okay, I'm sorry I asked. I didn't expect you to, I was just hoping you had."

"Cleaned up all your junk too."

"I only left everything out because you didn't wake me up this morning."

"You're a grown ass man. You can take care of yourself and wake yourself up." She still wasn't looking at him.

"What the hell is your problem?" He asked, almost hysterically.

She shut off the tv, deciding that she couldn't find anything to watch. She dropped the remote onto the table and screwed the cap back onto the whiskey. She attempted to stand up but banged her knee on the table in front of her. "Fucking shit. Bitch. Shit. Fuck." She rubbed her knee furiously before cautiously stumbling out from in between the couch and the coffee table. She walked past Butch and placed the bottle in the freezer. When she turned around, he was staring at her with crossed arms, looking guarded and expectant.

She met his gaze coolly, as she stumbled towards the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

* * *

 **So, I think I kind of accidentally went into Butch's point of view without meaning to? Idk. Oh well. Here's this. I'm going to keep writing tonight too.**


	11. Chapter 11: Kiss Me

**So, I have a basic plan for this, for the most part. But for the most part, idk what I'm doing right now. Oh well.**

* * *

A month later, things had only resulted in more fights and lots of quiet tension. They had managet to almost live in peace.

Halune found herself missing the cautious friendship they had had not once, but twice now. She had apologized profusely for how she behaved when drunk, but Butch just kept saying, "Whatever." every time and brushed her off like an annoying fly.

He hadn't left messes around for her to pick up, and she had tried to do the same, cleaning up after herself right away.

They still had the same sleeping arrangements. She took the bed, except for the nights that he decided to be clever and beat her to it and forced her to sleep on the couch. She'd taken to changing into her pajamas immediately after work so that she could beat him to the bedroom if he even so much as tried to take the bed from her.

Butch's punishment was already over, so he was back to sleeping in until it was time for his shop to open. Lately, Halune would wake him up when she left for work so that he could stumble to the bed and get a few hours of sleep comfortably.

They had gotten into a pattern that had begun to feel familiar until one night, as she was lying in bed in her nightgown, Butch opened the door. He was wearing his white t-shirt and boxers as pajamas, as he always did. He entered the room and shut the door behind him.

"What's up?" She asked, combing her hair back, thinking he wanted to talk to her for something.

Instead he growled, "Move over Poindexter. My back is killing me from sleeping on that fucking couch. This is my bed too."

She paused in her fussing over her hair and gaped at him as he crossed the room and lifted the covers to position himself under them. He turned so that his back was to her and made himself comfortable.

She stayed sitting up, her jaw tense.

"I'm not sleeping on the couch," She growled.

"Fine," He responded, not pressing the issue.

"Butch..."

He cut her off. "Just. Go. To. Sleep."

She stared at him for a while longer before hesitantly laying back down and letting herself drift off.

* * *

When she woke up, she felt warmth behind her and a comforting weight holding her down. It took her a minute to fully wake up and register what it was. Then she realized slowly that it was Butch, sleeping with his body pressed up behind her and his arm curled protectively around her waist.

She was torn between finding it comforting to be laying in bed like this with someone and feeling horrified that she and Butch were spooning. She tried to move his arm and free herself, but he only tugged her closer, burying his face into her hair and mumbling something incoherent.

Her heart fluttered uncomfortably and she swallowed tensely.

"Butch," She mumbled, tapping his hand, trying to wake him up.

"No, I'm comfortable," He responded. "I'll just stay here."

It took her a moment to realize that he thought he was still on the couch. She sighed, frustrated and shook his hand while simultaneously trying to pry his arm off of her. "Let me go." She grunted. Pulling her legs in front of her so that they almost dangled off the edge of the bed.

He grunted again and then made a sound of inhaling air as he realized what she meant and let her go.

Free, she stood up and stretched.

"Sorry," He groaned, tugging the covers over his head. "I didn't do it on purpose."

She just chuckled and stood up, getting ready for work.

* * *

When she got back from visiting Amata after her shift, Butch was already home.

"Hey," she said, hanging her lab coat up on the coat rack by the door, right next to his Tunnel Snake jacket.

"Hey," He returned, turning to face her.

She set her purse down on the coffee table and pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders, massaging her scalp to ease the tension of a day of having her hair pulled tightly together.

"So, I think it's safe to say that we've both been refusing to acknowledge that we're... married," Butch began.

Her eyes darted to meet his, realizing where this conversation was going. "Yeah, I guess we've both been doing that."

"Do you think, that if we had met under different circumstances, that maybe things would be different? Like, if I hadn't picked on you, maybe we wouldn't be rivals and we wouldn't feel so weird around each other?"

"I don't know Butch," She crossed her arms. "How about you stop picking on me and we see?"

He sighed. "Look, can we just try this? We're going to be stuck like this. It's not like we can go to anyone else. Besides, is it really so bad being stuck with one another?"

Her expression lost its edge as she processed what he said to her. "What do you mean?" She asked cautiously.

"I know you always have your guard up around me because how I treat you. But, if I play nice, can you play nice too? I feel like at this point we have no choice but to put our past behind us."

"You're probably right," She murmured.

"So... are you going to drop your guard then, or what?"

She stared at him, noting for the first time all the ways she was tensed up. Her eyes had locked on him intently and her shoulders were rigid. Her back was completely straight and stiff and her legs were braced shoulder width apart. She sighed and swallowed the lump of anxiety that rose up in her throat. She uncrossed her arms and let them hang beside her and stood more loosely, but her eyes hadn't lost their edge completely. "If you make me regret trusting you, I will kick your ass. And make your life hell."

"Hey, fair enough." Butch raised his hands in surrender and smiled lightly at her.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, however, when she opened them he was only inches away from her. She jerked to move backwards, startled, but he gripped his hands around her waist and pulled her close to him.

She felt her heart ramming against her ribcage as he moved his mouth slowly over the flesh of her neck. Her hands began to tremble slightly and she balled her fiists into the fabric of his shirt so he didn't know how nervous she was.

He nipped softly at her flesh, one of his hands moving slowly along her side, following the curve of her hips.

His hand gripped her long hair and tugged it back, exposing more of her neck as he moved over her jaw and finally pressed his lips to hers.

A soft moan escaped her before she could stop it and her pulse screamed at her for doing something so embarrassing.

This only seemed to encourage Butch, however as he wrapped both arms tightly around her, deepening the kiss. He tasted of mint and cigarettes, which she didn't mind at all.

Suddenly she found herself laying on the couch with him positioned above her. They locked eyes and just stared into eachothers gazes for a moment before they finally dared to breathe.

"See?" He mumbled breathlessly, brushing his lips against the flesh of her neck again and trailing his lips down to her collar bone. "This isn't so bad." He grabbed her knee and lifted it around him, pressing in between her thighs with his hardening member.

He thrust forward once, grinding their hips together, causing her heart to take off like a rocket as a gasp escaped her lips.

He pressed his mouth hard against hers and roughly ran his hands over her body. She hesitantly slid her fingertips over his muscled chest. He bit her lower lip once before letting out a moan of his own. Her breathing picked up even more as one of his hands moved towards the zipper of her jumpsuit until they heard a knock at the door.

They both jumped, alarmed by the intrusion. The knock came again and they met eachothers eyes once more, panting as they tried to catch their breaths.

"Do you wanna get it?" He asked, trying to smooth his hair and straightening his shirt. "Or should I?"

"Uh, I dunno." She ran her fingers through her hair haistilly. Her hands were still shaking.

His eyes moved over her neck. "You might want to go look at yourself in the mirror. I'll get it."

She stood up and went to the bathroom, turning on the light to reveal two hickeys along the left side of her neck. She stared at them, kind of upset and yet intrigued. She'd never had a hickey before. She ran her fingers over them to reveal that they were almost tender to the touch. Sighing, she began to ponder what she would do about them when she heard Butch knock on the door.

"It's safe. It was just Paul dropping something off for me."

She opened the door with one hand to her neck. "You need to be more careful," she growled.

"Hey, drop the wall. I thought we already established this." He reached out and grabbed her by the hips, tugging her to him again. "Besides, from what I could tell, you liked it." He nipped playfully where her shoulder met her neck and lightly massaged the small of her back.

She let out a resigned sigh and rested her cheek to his chest, admiring how warm and solid he felt to her. She'd never held someone this long before.

She expected him to break away at any minute, but he just stood there with her, his face resting against her soft black hair. He began to stroke it, letting his fingers run through the strands. "So..." He paused, seeming unsure if he wanted to continue. "Have you ever... you know? Had sex before?"

He felt her tense beneath him as she murmured an almost inaudible, "No."

"That's okay," He replied. "We don't have to go there yet, anyway. We won't go there until you're ready."

She nodded against his shirt, feeling his hand tighten in her hair as he tugged at it so that she was looking at him. He kissed her slowly before releasing her and moving to the kitchen to make food.

She let out a shaky breath and informed him that she was going to take a shower.

* * *

That night, they lay in bed together. This time they weren't rolled away from each other. Butch scooted right up to her when he got in bed and immediately slung his arm over her hips. She felt him wiggle his other hand under her neck and their fingers curled together. She stared at their intertwined hands in the darkness for a long while until he whispered, "Good night... Poindexter." He followed this with a chuckle and slid his other hand over her hips soothingly to let her know that it was just a joke.

A surprised laugh bubbled up from her lips and she squeezed his hand reassuringly. "Good night Greaseball."

He scooted closer to her and she fell asleep safe in the arms of her childhood bully.

* * *

 **You have no idea how difficult this chapter was to write o.o Anyway! Here you go! Please review c:**


	12. Chapter 12: The Other

**So, everyone likes Charon right? I hope you do. Because he'll be coming up eventually. Just wanna clear that up that he'll be a pretty major character.**

* * *

The next day, Halune went about her work as usual. She had to untangle herself from Butch once more and got ready, feeling a little weird that she and Butch had kissed last night. She hadn't expected the fire and the want that she'd feel when kissing her childhood enemy. Butch's words came back to her then. If they had met under different circumstances and their lives hadn't been that way... what then? She briefly wondered if they would have dated of their own accord. If maybe they would have ended up together anyway. She shook her head and left for work, sighing softly to herself as she closed the door behind her.

In the hall, she passed the Overseer. He narrowed his eyes at her and she clenched her jaw and forced herself to look straight ahead as she passed him. Thankfully, he said nothing.

Reaching the clinic, she dropped her purse off in the break room and immediately checked for the assignment chart. She didn't find one. Her dad always filled one out.

She walked into his office to see him and Jonah talking in hushed tones.

"Hey," She greeted when her father looked up sharply. "Uh, there's no assignment chart. What did you want me to do?"

"Oh, I'm sorry about that sweetie." Her father stood up, waving Jonah off. "I must have forgotten. Let's go see."

The rest of the day went much like that. In their down time, Jonah and her father would talk quietly to themselves and almost ignore her completely. She tried to tell herself that it didn't bother her, but she knew that it sort of did.

The day was slow and grueling without her typical chatter with her father and Jonah. She kept trying to joke around, tossing gloves or crumpled paper towels, but they just chuckled and went back to talking.

It made her feel like a child. _No, not right now sweetie. The adults are talking._

Angrily, she tidied the bedsheets on the nearest cot.

All at once, the clinic erupted in noise.

There were two security guards dragging Ellen Deloria in, holding her body between the two of them with an arm wrapped around the shoulders of each of them.

Halune gasped and immediately rolled one of the cots over so they could place her on it.

Finally, her father and Jonah stopped talking and got serious. They all gathered around and began asking questions.

Several hours later, everyone relaxed.

Mrs. Deloria was stable. Apparently she had suffered from alcohol poisoning and needed her whole system flushed and was in dire need of real hydration.

Halune leaned against the counter, watching her father rearrange their tools. Ellen was still unconscious, but was safe for the time being.

"You should probably tell Butch," Her father murmured. "Did you need me to come with?"

"No," Halune answered quickly. "It'll look bad if both of us go. He'll think she's dead or something. Can I go now?"

Her father nodded and gave her hand a quick squeeze. She smiled and squeezed his hand back, turning to go.

Her pace was brisk as she made her way down the steel corridors to the shop where Butch worked.

She walked in to see him finishing up a haircut. Some girl. They were the only two in the shop.

Halune politely moved to the waiting section and tucked herself in the corner chair and read a magazine.

Butch and the woman talked and joked as he finished up the last of her hair cut, holding a mirror for her to see her whole head.

She cooed at how pretty it made her look and ruffled a hand through it.

Butch was smiling lightly as he undid the cape and dusted the hair off of the woman, hands trailing too close to her chest.

Halune's chest burned uncomfortably as she watched.

"Thank you Butch," the other woman whispered as she stood and turned.

They obviously hadn't even noticed Halune enter the room.

The woman leaned up on her tip toes and planted a light kiss on Butch's lips shyly before moving to leave.

Halune hesitated, wondering if she should make a scene in front of whoever this girl was.

She felt tricked. She would have been fine with this, if he wouldn't have tried to form any kind of relationship with her.

She stood, slapping the magazine on the table next to her.

The two of them turned in surprise to notice her standing there, arms crossed over her lab coat, glasses perched on her nose so she could glare at them over the frames.

"Shit," she heard Butch whisper. "You should go. Now." He gave the girl a nudge on the shoulder and she stumbled out of the shop, wide eyes locked on Halune in an emotion she couldn't read, or didn't care to read.

Once as the girl was gone, she directed her gaze to Butch.

"Look," He said, as if he was going to explain himself.

She didn't even want to hear it. She already knew what was going on. He was only happy with Halune because he still got whoever he wanted anyway. Her nostrils flared slightly as she took in a sharp breath, cutting him off. "It doesn't fucking matter. There was never anything between you and I anyway, was there?"

His eyes widened a fraction before he took several steps closer to her, his palms facing the ceiling as if in surrender.

"I don't care," She continued. "Your mom's in the hospital."

That stopped him cold in his tracks.

His mind processed what she had said before he blinked several times, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"She's...?"

"In the clinic. She drank too much. You should go check on her. She's stable though. There's also evidence of long term liver damage." She turned to go. "You should go see her."

She strode from the clinic and headed straight for her old apartment with her father.

* * *

 **So, uh, this went in a direction I did not expect at all.**


	13. Chapter 13: Gone

**Has anyone noticed that I'm posting these chapters without editing them first? Technically, I plan to go back and edit them later, but we'll see. If I edit them now, I'll never get to finishing this fanfic, trust me.**

* * *

There was a loud, blaring alarm that jolted Halune out of sleep. She fell on the floor, legs curled under her as she looked around wildly, the blankets still tangled around her hips.

She stood quickly and flipped on the lights. Everything seemed normal, aside from the shrill alarm.

She dressed quickly into yesterday's jumpsuit and shoved her feet clumsily into her boots.

"Dad?" She called, stumbling out of her room, a knot building in her stomach. "Dad!"

The door burst open then. "There you are!" Amata gasped, hurrying over and clutching her shoulders. "Listen, you have to get out of here. Your father's gone and everyone's looking for you!"

"What?" Halune blinked several times at her friend and then looked behind her, hoping to see her father walk out of his room at any second.

"Your father!" Amtat gasped, shaking her as she spoke. "He left the vault!"

"What?!" Halune focused her wide eyes into her friend's. "But the vault's sealed. It's not safe..."

"Apparently it isn't sealed, and apparently it's safer than we realized because your dad is out there right now."

Halune blinked several times, at a loss for words.

"You have to get out of here!" Amata insisted, gripping her by the elbow and dragging her towards the door. "There's a passage through my father's office. It's the last place they'll think to look for you. I know the password to my dad's terminal to open the way. And I suggest you bring a weapon, although I hope you don't have to use it." There was real pain and conflict in her friend's eyes.

The door opened and Amata shoved her towards it.

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

Halune looked at Amata for a moment longer before giving her a huge hug, and meeting her gaze with a smile before running off in the direction of the Overseer's office. Her mind seemed to suddenly process everything that had happened and her body was finally ready to respond.

She considered what she would do if she ran into security when she remembered the pistol that her father had given her recently. It was in her new apartment. Under the mattress on her side of the bed. She'd only had the chance to shoot a few times with it, but hoped that that would be enough.

She was just turning the corner to the hall where her apartment was located when she heard footsteps behind her. She glanced over her shoulder quickly. It was Butch.

She knew she didn't have time to stop. She kept going.

"Wait!" She heard him call.

She had made it to their apartment and was in the bedroom when she heard his voice at the doorway.

"What the hell is going on?" He demanded, gasping from running.

"It doesn't matter. You won't have to deal with me anymore." She grabbed a bag and stuffed it full of food and water, trying to guess what she might need. She tossed in two extra jumpsuits and her blanket. The same one she had from her room in her dad's apartment. Then she hesitantly lifted the mattress to reveal that the pistol was still there.

"Whoah," Butch breathed. "What the hell did you do?"

"You mean besides being unfortunate enough to be born?" She snarled, loading the clip and stuffing the ammo into her pocket. She hefted the pack onto her back.

"Where the hell are you going to go?" He seemed to stand in between her and the doorway.

"I'm leaving the vault." She raised her chin at the statement and looked him dead in the eyes.

He just opened his mouth and gaped before shaking his head in astonishment.

"Out of the way." She took several steps towards him, holding her pistol in both of her hands. She didn't raise it at him.

"How are you going to survive out there?"

"I don't know," she growled. "But apparently I have a higher chance of survival out there than I do here. The Overseer's after me."

Butch's eyes widened and he finally took a step back.

She cast him a glance as she shouldered past him and continued running. She cast a glance back as she exited the front door.

He was still standing in their bedroom doorway, staring after her with an unreadable expression on his face.

She focused on the problem at hand.

She had to get to the Overseer's office.

She heard shouting behind her. It sounded like a search team.

She sped up, feet slapping against the metal flooring as she turned a corner and hauled herself up a flight of stairs, gripping the railing while holding onto her pistol.

Suddenly a face appeared in front of her. It was a security officer. She saw him freeze for a moment before his eyes hardened and he raised his pistol.

She didn't think. She didn't breathe. Her arm shot up and she fired.

She screamed as the gunshot went off and she saw the red bloom in his chest where the bullet had entered.

When he fell to the ground, she began to hyperventilate. Then she heard thundering feet after her.

Swallowing down her fear, she tore up the last of the steps and made her way down several more halls until the Overseer's office was visible. Casting a quick glance around, she bolted for the door.

By the time the footsteps had caught up with her, she had already sealed the passageway and was sitting in silence in a set of old tunnels infested with radroaches.

She paused to catch her breath and tiptoed forward, ears straining. Would they be able to follow her in here? Would they even know where she was?

Her eyes darted about nervously as she moved forward and took the door to her left. Opening it, slowly, she checked for what could be on the other side. She was met by a blissfully empty room. There was a large computer system built up in front of her and a window that showed the iconic vault door. She stared for a moment in awe before she left the room and entered the larger one beyond. If not for the alarm still blaring, it would have been silent. Completely silent. She carefully approached the door and ran her fingers over the surface before she finally sucked in a sharp breath and pressed the door command and stood back as loud gears began turning and a gust of air hissed into her face. The door slowly creaked out of place before moving towards her and then raising itself into the ceiling.

A large yawning tunnel awaited her beyond.

She stepped forward, glancing back at the vault once more, still worried that she would be discovered at any second. Then, with a last sigh, she jogged away from the vault and into the blinding sun beyond.

* * *

 **So, don't be mad at me. We'll see Butch again! I promise!**


	14. Chapter 14: Megaton and Ghouls

**So, I'm not good with action scenes Please forgive me. Also, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE REVIEWED. It really makes my day better and encourages me to write c:**

 **ALSO. I deleted the last two chapters and I am fixing them because I hated them with all my being.**

* * *

She burst out of the door at the end of the tunnel and was immediately hit by how bright it was. She clenched her eyes shut and covered them with her fists, waiting until her eyes recovered from the shock. Breathing, she opened her eyes a crack, feeling the wind whipping through her hair and scattering sand into her clothes. She felt it pattering softly against her face and was cautious to ensure none got into her eyes.

She cast a glance at the door behind her wondering if someone would dare to step out to retrieve her.

Nervously, she took a few tentative steps forward, checking her pipboy to make sure the area wasn't too irradiated.

To her dismay and relief, it was perfectly fine.

Sighing, she took a tentative step forward. The floor… no… the ground was uneven and she felt her ankles twist at odd angles as she managed to stay upright while hobbling down the slanted path.

Another gust of wind picked up and she felt as if she was standing in front of one of the air vents, except she couldn't get away from it. She'd read about everything she was experiencing, and she knew what it all was, but she couldn't believe the reality of this new and unfamiliar world.

It was then that she made the mistake of looking up. The distance that the sky stretched was dizzying. She craned her neck so that her head was tilted as far back as she could manage and almost fell over in her attempt to see the milky blue expanse. It looked… so soft. She wondered how far it actually went up and where space began. She imagined the pictures she saw in books. No book could have prepared her for the vastness of everything in front of her.

In her drifting thoughts, she hadn't been paying attention to how far she had gone.

There was a large dark metal structure rising up from the ground in front of her and she glanced over her shoulder to reveal that she couldn't even see the wooden door that covered the entrance to Vault 101.

Dazed, she follows the curve of the steel wall in front of her until she finds an entrance. She didn't know what to expect, but a protrectron greeted her and informed her that she was in Megaton.

Her eyes flicked over the robot briefly before she stepped up to the doors. They were heavy, but opened easily as if used to travelers coming and going.

Once as the doors opened, she nearly fell back as she realized that the whole town was a steep incline to the centre. The first thing her mind processed was how difficult it would be to traverse the town. She was used to walking on flat ground, but she had never had to walk through anything like this.

The second thing her mind processed was the center of the town and what lay in it. There was what appeared to be a nuke settled in a disgusting looking pool. She gawked at it when she felt a hand on her arm.

She closed her mouth and glanced over to see a man wearing a long coat and a large brimmed hat.

"Hi," She offered with a small smile. What would the people of the wasteland be like? "Um, why is there a bomb in the center of town? It's not still active, is it?"

He sighed. "Unfortunately it is. It hasn't detonated yet, but I just know that having that thing around doesn't sit well with me."

"Why don't you just take out the critical components?" She asked, blinking at him.

"If only it were that easy."

"I think I could," She offered.

He eyed her suspiciously. There was a long pause. "Maybe I'll let you tinker with it. But don't touch it unless you're sure that you know what you're doing. " His face softened a little, a smile curving at one corner of his mouth. "Name's Lucas Simms, town sheriff. And mayor too, when the need arises."

"Nice to meet you," She smiled. "I'm Halune. Halune... Deloria."

"You're one of them folks from the vault nearby, aren't you?"

She nods, her head bobbing slowly as she shifted uncomfortably in her jumpsuit.

"I haven't seen one of you in years." He shook his head. "Just make sure you don't cause trouble in my town and you and I will get along great."

She nods. "No problem. Hey, have you seen my dad? He's got graying, short hair, hardly a beard to speak of. He's middle aged."

He thought for a moment before saying. "I might have seen someone like that. But if I were you, I'd go check out Moriarty's saloon. He would probably know more than me." He said the last part a little begrudgingly. "Oh, also, watch out for the bartender. He's a ghoul so he's a little mutated. I know you vaulties tend to be surprised when you see them for the first time. He's friendly though."

She nodded and thanked him, heading down the path towards the center of town, tripping over the stairs and catching herself on her forearms before she could tumble the rest of the way down.

Standing, she hurried away, a shade of pink covering her cheeks. She thought she heard him chuckle behind her as she gripped the railing of a ramp and climbed towards the saloon.

Her eyes couldn't help but to wander towards everyone. She'd always recognized the faces from the vault and so many new faces was a little unnerving. She could see in the way that they walked that they were tired and battered. Most of them were dirty and their clothing wasn't in good condition at all.

She wondered how she would manage to survive in a place like this.

She had reached the saloon and opened the door hesitantly.

Immediately she saw what Lucas had meant when she saw a man beating a radio, swearing. His skin was falling off and looked like the texture of a scab. She froze for a moment, wondering if he was in pain.

"Goddammit. Son of a bitch!" He growled, his voice a low guttural rumble. Something about it was soothing. She smiled and took a few steps forward. "Stupid radio." He gave it another smack before noticing her. "Oh, hi smoothskin. Can I get you anything?"

"Um, not at the moment, thanks." She wasn't sure where her eyes should look, so she settled for his face, hoping it wasn't rude. She tried not to analyse his face too much for fear of insulting him.

"You mean... you're not going to hit me? Insult me? Even berate me a little?"

Her eyes went wide. "No."

He let out a sigh. "Well that's a relief," He mumbled. "It's nice that there are some worthwhile people out there somewhere."

She smiled sadly, noting how his milky eyes looked tired and hopeless.

"I'm Gob." He reached a hand out to her.

She hesitated only the briefest of moments before shaking it. His skin felt calloused, but not disgusting. "I'm Halune."

"Nice to meet you." He began to polish a glass with a dingy rag.

"Nice to meet you too. Um, did you see my father come through here? He was a middle aged guy from the vault..."

Her voice trailed off as he glanced at her sharply. He scanned the room quickly before leaning towards her. "Look, I could get in trouble for this, but yeah. I seen him. He mentioned something about GNR radio. He might have been heading for the station. It's in downtown DC."

"Can you show me on my map?" She flipped it open quickly, sensing the urgency in his voice.

He pointed out the location and she set a marker, thanking him profusely.

He simply nodded and cast another wary glance around.

She asked him if he was okay and he shrugged.

They spent the rest of the time talking as she learned more about the wastes.

* * *

 **I need more ideas e.e I know what I want to do, but I need to make it not boring o.o please review**


	15. Chapter 15: Charon

**Okay, so I think I might know what I'm doing. Idk for sure if everyone will be happy where this will be heading, but some of you will be very happy. We'll see.**

* * *

Halune woke up in the common house around noon. Her head was pounding and she immediately regretted drinking last night. She sighed and got up, blinking at the light grumpily, not looking forward to walking out into the high noon sun. Sucking in an impatient breath, she stepped out into the open air and kept her eyes down as she trotted to the saloon.

She was walking too fast with her eyes cast down so she ended up slamming into someone, rebounding off and landing on her ass.

She groaned and mumbled an apology, looking up to see a very angry looking man glaring down at her.

"Watch where you're fucking going kid," He spat.

"Well sorry," She growled, hefting herself up. She wanted to think up a comeback, but couldn't.

"You're that kid that's fresh outta the vault, aren't you?" His eyes narrowed and he took a step forward.

His breath smelled of cigarettes.

"The wastes are gonna eat you up." His eyes trailed down her body. "I'm Jericho. You know, I wouldn't mind getting to know you." His grin was vicious.

"Nah, I'm good thanks." She said flatly. "But I'll let you know." She added sarcastically. "Bye."

She brushed past him, her head pounding too much. She walked into the saloon, grateful that the light was dimmer.

"Hey," Gob greeted. "It's my favorite person."

She grinned and threw herself on a stool, not even remotely gracefully. "I need a cure for this hangover. Beer please."

"Sure thing," He said twisting a cap off and handing her the beer, stashing the cap in a cup meant for Moriarty.

"Cheapskate," She mumbled, taking a long swig. The beer was cold and felt good in her throat.

"Don't tell me you just woke up," Gob grinned at her, leaning towards her with his elbows on the counter.

She laughed nervously. "Well, ya know."

His laugh was a low series of grunts that sounded like he was coughing.

She knew that his voice sounded the way it did because of his vocal chords being torn to bits, but she still couldn't help but be fascinated by how his voice sounded. "So where's the evil boss man?" She asked, referring to Moriarty. She hadn't seen him when she walked in and he hadn't shown his face yet. Last night, she had talked to him a few shots in and he had tried to tell her that the vault had been opened before and she vehemently argued against him until he made her see reason. Even when she finally believed him, she was still pissed. Gob said that whiskey did that to some people. She made a note to try something else.

"Moriarty's away spending some time with some girls. I don't know for sure. But it sure beats having him around to abuse me." He lazily swiped a rag over the counter. His eyes flicked to hers. "So what are you going to do now? You were going to look for your dad, right?"

She exhaled softly glancing away. "Yeah. I guess." She glanced to the side. "I'm kinda afraid to go out into the wastes though. I don't know what I'll run into. I'm kinda partial to living, ya know?" A hesitant chuckle escaped her lips.

She jerked her gaze to his when she felt his hand over hers, clutching her fingers gently. "I'm not going to lie and tell you everything will be alright. It's pretty dangerous out there. Only go after your dad if you feel you're ready. Just make sure you take care of yourself."

She felt a blush spread over her cheeks at the intensity in his gaze. He released her hand with a quick squeeze. "If you ever happen upon Underworld, though, tell Carol I said hi." Something about him seemed a little gloomy as he said this.

"Underworld. Is that where you came from?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The city of ghouls set up in the Museum of History. It's quite something. I set out to find fame and fortune. Instead I found this place." He sighed and leaned his back to the counter, resting his elbows behind him. He glanced over her shoulder. "You never know what's going to happen kid."

She gave him a warm, understanding smile.

* * *

After a week, she was finally ready to leave Megaton. She was worried that her dad had gone far away, but she knew that she shouldn't rush headfirst into anything potentially life threatening.

She had acquired some gear after she had done a few errands for Moira and had even scavenged some decent things. She had nearly picked Moira and the Doc clean of caps with the supplies she had come across and sold to them.

She had even found a sniper rifle that she picked off of a man who lived in the minefield Moira forced her to go to.

She actually didn't mind how positive Moira always was. It was somewhat refreshing compare to all the hopeless faces around. At first she had found her annoying but quickly found that she was growing on her. She was pretty smart too. Halune figured Moira must have either been a genius and taught herself a lot of things, or she had had some sort of formal education. But who knows where she'd be able to find that.

Halune took a swig of water and continued on her way. Her path through DC was completely fucked up. She had to go to certain subway stations, crawl around underground for a bit, avoid feral ghouls, and pop out the other side of the tunnel and hope she was in the right location.

The directions Gob had given her were proving difficult to follow. And she was sick of running into super mutants.

Gob hadn't been kidding when he told her that they were everywhere in DC.

The first one she encountered had caught her by surprise. He had shouted at her and came barreling towards her with a sledgehammer of sorts and had been swinging it wildly. She'd had to duck it and try to run out of his swinging range, which proved to be more difficult than she thought since the huge creature had longer legs than she did. They were fairly fast despite being bulky and lumbering.

After several more hours of walking, the sun had started to go down and Halune was becoming a little worried.

She still hadn't found the GNR station.

She was feeling fairly hopeless when she spotted a ghoul holding a rifle and pacing.

Hesitantly, she called out, prepared to shoot if the ghoul didn't want her around.

"Oh. Tourist," Came the greeting.

"What?"

"You're a tourist."

Halune wrinkled her nose. "I guess. Um, can you tell me where I am?"

"This is Underworld."

"The city of ghouls?" Halune asked, staring at the building before her.

"Uh huh." The female ghoul seemed bored.

"Is it okay for me to go in?" Halune asked, shouldering her weapon.

"I suppose. So long as you don't cause trouble. We don't get a lot of your kind around here. So make sure you behave yourself. We don't tolerate bigots here."

"No worries," Halune put her hands up and smiled gently. "I basically just need a place to stay for the night."

The ghoul nodded.

Thanking her, Halune stepped up to the large doors and swung them open, slipping inside to reveal the dark interior. She stared in awe at everything surrounding her as she walked. She saw a dinosaur skeleton, which amazed her most of all. The ceiling was very intricate as well. It was completely different than the architecture she was used to in the vault.

The sound of her footsteps echoing mesmerized her.

She reached a second set of doors and greeted the ghoul leaning against them.

She nodded in response and took a puff of her cigarette. "Hi there smoothskin."

Halune smiled and tugged one of the doors open and walked in.

* * *

After talking to the residents for a little while, she learned where Carol was and she also learned where the bar was located.

She immediately went to Carol to tell her about Gob saying hi, wondering how long it had been since Carol and Gob had seen each other.

She chatted for a while with the ghoul, intrigued about her stories from before the war, however, she soon found herself itching for a drink.

She said goodbye to the sweet ghoul and walked into the Ninth Circle.

The smell of cigarette smoke welcomed her as she entered. Eyes flicked to graze over her as she strode up to the bar. She wondered if she should sit at the bar or at a table, but chose the bar anyway, despite most of the seats being filled with ghouls muttering about smoothskins in their city.

Her eyes scanned over everyone in the bar and she almost didn't spot the tall quiet figure in the corner, glaring at her with a cold stare.

She shifted nervously and turned her attention back to the bartender.

He introduced himself as Ahzrukhal. He went on some spiel about how if she had anything wrong, she could lay out some caps and tell him all about it, but somehow, she didn't believe him.

"I'd just like a... scotch please." She decided to try something different.

"Of course!" He found a tumbler and filled it with the amber liquid and pushed it in front of her.

"Thanks," She mumbled, taking a sip. She didn't particularity mind the taste and took another sip before fiddling with her pipboy.

She was trying to figure out Gob's instructions on her map when a hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her backwards.

With a cry she fell back and felt her head crack against the ground behind her.

A whimper escaped her throat.

"What does a smoothskin think she's doing just waltzing in here like she owns the place?" Growled a very drunk ghoul.

She glanced over, dazed, to see that his fists were clenched at his sides. Sluggishly, she pried herself off of her tipped chair and tried to get up. However, she was met with a kick to the ribs.

She cried out again, scrambling to get away as another kick was aimed for her.

Thankfully, the kick never came. She watched as the drunk was hauled out by his collar by the tall man she had seen earlier.

Groaning, she rolled onto her hands and knees and got up slowly, feeling a bruise forming on her side. She then touched the back of her head and was furious to find bloot matted in her hair.

"Goddammit," She hissed, noting her fallen drink. "Well that's just fucking great."

"No fighting in my bar," Ahzrukhal growled as he glared at her from over the counter.

"Well good think I hadn't been fighting then huh?" She countered, angrily picking up her pack and tossing it over her shoulder, deciding she should probably see the doc to make sure that she didn't have a concussion.

She turned to see the large ghoul behind her. She stopped, intimidated by his sheer size. He crossed his arms and stared at her, expression unreadable.

His eyes flicked to Ahzrukhal's and she glanced behind her in time to see him shake his head and the larger ghoul nodded in acknowledgement before striding towards the corner he had previously occupied.

Ahzrukhal was dutifully cleaning up her spilled scotch and she briefely lamented the wasted caps before heading off.

* * *

She had a broken rib but no concussion.

The doctor recommended that she take it easy and not do anything too serious until her rib was completely healed, but she knew that was out of the question. She needed to find her dad.

It was only four in the afternoon the next day when she trudged into the Ninth Circle again. It was significantly quieter this early in the day, however there were a few ghouls seated at tables, drinking in silence.

She glanced at the bouncer from the previous night. Awkwardly, she walked over to him.

"Hey, thanks for-"

"Talk to Ahzrukhal," He growled.

"I just..."

"Talk. To. Ahzrukhal." His eyes narrowed and she blinked, surprised.

"Okay," she muttered, walking to the bar and dropping her pack at her feet, pulling out a bag of caps.

"Scotch please," She drawled. "And this time, when someone sneaks up on me from behind, please warn me." She curled her lip and counted out seven caps.

"Of course," the bartender agreed with narrowed eyes.

This time she was able to enjoy her drink in peace. She gulped down the whole glass and then ordered another.

She was just finishing her second when she asked Ahzrukhal if he could help her figure out the directions that Gob had given her.

He laughed and pointed out the location on her map. It wasn't too terribly far away. She thanked him profusely and ordered another drink.

After getting through that one, she finally asked him, "What's with the guy in the corner?"

Ahzrukhal glanced up, snorting out a brief laugh. "Him? Oh, that's Charon. Let's just say he's a loyal employee."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, tugging on a lock of her black hair and brushing it over her lips in a bored manner.

"I hold Charon's contract which makes me his employer."

"Contract?" She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips around the strand of hair.

"Charon wound up with a rather unfortunate group of people who... brainwashed him. He is loyal to anyone who holds his contract. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he holds no end of anger towards me, however as long as I am his employer, he is as gentle as a teddy bear to me." The bartender's eyes narrowed wickedly as he looked at the ghoul in question.

She glanced over her shoulder to see Charon pretending not to notice, his arms crossed and jaw tight.

"So you own him?"

Ahzrukhal's face contorted and he spat, "No, ma'am I do not. Charon is in the position he is in because of some rather unfortunate decisions he made in the past." The more Ahzrukhal talked, the more she disliked his voice.

After a few moments, she finally spoke. "Can I buy his contract from you?"

Ahzrukhal let out a sharp bark of a laugh. "Charon is invaluable to me. I would need a substantial amount of caps so that I could afford a replacement for him."

"How about 2,000?" She asked in a bored tone.

Ahzrukhal studied her face to see if she was serious before nodding slowly. "That would be... acceptable."

She nodded, taking out the caps and counting them in front of him.

His eyes greedilly watched her and as soon as she was done, he scooped them into a bucket which he deposited into his safe in the wall. His fingers clutched a piece of old, worn paper as he shut the safe. He extended his arm slowly towards her and she took the paper from him.

She unfolded it, reading over the words carefully. She nodded, satisfied before tucking it into an inside pocket of her jacket.

"I'll give you the pleasure of telling Charon yourself."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at that and she raised herself from her seat, finishing off her last scotch.

Swinging her body around, she found Charon's eyes already carefully trained on her. She wondered what was going through his mind as she closed the gap between them. Had he heard their conversation?

"Hi, Charon," She greeted warily. "I, um, purchased your contract from Ahzrukhal. I hope that's okay with you."

He blinked once and nodded. "I need to take care of something momentarily. Please, wait here." His voice was clipped and formal.

She nodded, thumbs in the straps of her pack.

She watched as he crossed the room and approached Ahzrukhal.

"Charon! Have you come to say goodbye?" The bartender beamed, holding his arms wide in a grand gesture, almost as if he was expecting a hug.

Charon didn't say anything as he leveled his shot gun in his face and fired twice.

There were several shouts from the few patrons in the bar.

"Holy shit!" Someone barked, throwing their chair back as they rapidly backed out of the room. "He just shot Ahzrukhal!"

She was shocked, but she could only imagine how shocking this would be to everyone else, seeing the loyal bouncer killing his longtime employer that they'd all known.

"What the fuck was that?" She chocked out as Charon approached her, stopping a few feet away.

"He was an evil bastard," He explained simply.

She watched his eyes for a moment and tired to picture all the horrible things Ahzrukhal could have made him do over the years and nodded. "Okay. Let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

 **Holy shit! This is my longest chapter yet! But! Here we go! A better chapter introducing Charon! I hope you guys enjoy ^-^ please review!**


	16. Chapter 16: Check Mate

**Now we're getting past where I was in the last chapters that I deleted and redid. (For those of you who actually read them.) I hope you guys are all Charon fans!**

* * *

He watched her as she walked, hands loosely holding her rifle as she glanced about, trying to keep an eye out for anything dangerous.

They had traveled in silence for a while, her seeming nervous.

He had worked for plenty of cowardly people who usually hired him to do their dirty work. He was a weapon that people hid behind and he was used to it by now. So far, he hadn't figured out what she was after yet. She had only mumbled something about the Galaxy News Radio Station while she fiddled with her pipboy and continued forward.

They had run into a group of raiders and she fired immediately, hitting them in their chests as she kept advancing forward.

He admitted that she wasn't a bad shot. So why did she need him?

He eyed her as she dug through the pockets of several of the raiders and even took the armor off of some of them.

He didn't know if she wanted him to help, so he held his gun at the ready, watching for any potential danger.

The raiders had left their radio on, tuned to the GNR station. She paused as she heard something about the Vault 101 kid disarming the bomb in Megaton.

"Wow," she muttered, stuffing things into her pack. "I'm actually making the news with my pathetic little adventures."

Her mood had been sour all day and he couldn't help but to be put off by it.

"You know," she said again, finally. "This is a pretty decent place to camp, if there aren't anymore of them coming back..." Her eyes met his. "What do you think?"

"About what?" He grumbled.

"Should we camp here? Do you think it's safe?"

He shrugged, kicking a corpse. "I doubt there's any more coming back. If there is, I'm sure that we can handle them."

She nodded, satisfied with his answer.

He noticed her stuffing vials of med-x and jet into her bag.

His jaw tightened.

"Hey," she said again, walking over to him. She was at least a foot shorter than him and she had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Take these, just in case."

He looked down to see her holding five stimpacks. He nodded and took them, slipping them into his pocket as he watched her go through the rest of their belongings, even going so far as to pick the lock on an ammunition case. She was fast. The lid was off and she was stuffing the ammo into her pack, barely checking what it was before taking it.

He vaguely wondered if she was a hoarder.

She finally decided that she had taken enough and sat herself down at a table the raiders had set up with a chessboard placed atop it. She waved a hand at the other chair and indicated that she wanted him to sit down.

He cast his eyes warily to the entrance of the little area and begrudgingly sat down.

"Do you know how to play chess?" She asked, moving her fingertips along the broken edge of a knight piece.

Charon grunted to say yes and she smiled, setting the pieces up carefully, scooting them so that they were perfectly centered in their squares.

"Do you want to go first?" She inquired, her big brown eyes meeting his.

He shrugged.

Smiling softly, she moved one of her pawns two spaces forward.

He moved a pawn forward as well.

"So," She asked softly. "Ahzrukhal said that you were... brainwashed into obeying whoever held your contract. Is that true?" She moved another pawn two spaces forward.

"Yes," He grunted. Moving his bishop several spaces.

"I'm sorry that that happened to you," She whispered, choosing to move another pawn.

He used his bishop to take out out one of her pawns before it had even moved from it's original position.

She used her rook to take out his bishop. "Do you ever think of disobeying your contract?"

He didn't answer, simply moved another pawn.

"I mean," She asked, her voice soft. "Do you ever just want to live your own life? Say 'fuck it' and try to be happy?"

He shrugged.

She briefly wondered if he had been drained of all emotion over the years, but then remembered him taking his revenge on Ahzrukhal. "Why are you loyal to your contract?" She didn't move a piece, just calmly held his gaze.

He looked away, but didn't answer.

"You know you don't have to be," She continued. "There's absolutely nothing stopping you from killing me now and walking off into the sunset. Your contract is... just a piece of paper, Charon."

His eyes settled on hers.

"Wouldn't you prefer freedom?"

"It's your move," He grunted.

She nodded and moved another pawn.

He moved his knight forward.

"I hope..." She began, moving another pawn. "I hope that you know that I don't want you to do anything I ask of you if you're not comfortable doing it."

He moved his knight again.

"If you need that request to be an order, then you can take it as such, but... I don't want you to obey me mindlessly. And, you can say whatever you want around me. Whatever goes through your mind, if you think I'm a fucking idiot... You can say anything."

She moved her bishop and took out his knight. His fingers held onto his rook, fingers trembling slightly. Could he dare to hope?

His eyes flicked up to meet hers and she was smiling gently. He placed the piece just behind one of his pawns near the middle of the board, waiting for her next move. She moved her queen forward and took out one of his pawns.

He shut down all of his emotions, not trusting her enough to hope. Her orders might benefit him now, but she could always change her mind later on down the line and he'd be where he started. That was how this worked. He moved his rook over a few spaces, a clear line leading towards the space next to her king.

They played in silence for a few more minutes before he eventually beat her. She took the defeat well, asking if he wanted to play again. He shrugged and risked his first moment of free speech.

"Not really."

"Okay," She chuckled. "Are you hungry? What do you want?"

He paused, feeling uncomfortable making requests from his employer. "What do you have?"

She bent over and pulled out several cans and boxes. "Green beans, some sliced potatoes? I've got some noodles and a box of snack cakes... Um, some dehydrated fruit? Pork and beans?"

"Pork and beans sounds fine," He grunted.

She smiled, setting the can on the table.

He was about to get up to start cooking it when she lifted the can in one hand and headed over to the fire pit the raiders had left going.

He watched as his employer cooked their meal and served it to him, setting a bowl in front of him and handing him a bottle of water.

She didn't seem to notice the significance of her doing something for him instead of asking him to do it.

He watched her with a guarded expression, eating his food slowly as she watched the clouds pass overhead.

Why had she hired him?

* * *

 **So, I really like writing from Charon's perspective. I'm going to try to keep the rough side of him, but I don't know how well I can do that.**


	17. Chapter 17: Freedom

**I've been reading so many Charon fanfics lately, it's not even funny. Anyway, here you go c:**

* * *

He didn't realize that she didn't know where she was going until she neared Rivet City and groaned, kicking a rock and trudging to the boat.

She was let on and the two of them crossed the bridge, the sun having gone down a few hours ago.

She was tired and crabby and he watched her carefully as she bought a room and immediately stripped down to her under clothes.

She was wearing a tanktop and a pair of shorts. He couldn't help but to notice the lack of bra as her nippled showed through the thin material.

She sat crosslegged on the bed as she punched the buttons on her pipboy.

"I have no idea how to get to GNR," She finally growled, taking a swig of the whiskey she had been nursing for the past half an hour. "By the way," she slurred, "I'm sorry if I'm an ass. Whiskey does that to me." She ran a hand through her hair, brushing it back and out of her face.

He didn't comment on her apology as he seen it as unnecessary. Instead he chose to say, "If you're trying to get to GNR, I know the way."

She froze and looked up at him, her brows furrowed. "Holy shit!" She barked, and he thought that she was going to yell at him. Instead she uncrossed her legs and tossed them over the side of the bed, leaning forward. "Why the fuck didn't I think to ask you? Wow. I feel really fucking stupid. You know how to get there from here?"

He nodded, watching her carefully as she rubbed at goosebumps that were forming on her arm.

"Holy fucking shit. That's great." She beamed at him, showing pearly white teeth. "We're going to head out tomorrow again after I unload some of this shit onto the traders here if I can."

She used her small foot to gesture to her pack before falling back onto the bed.

"Thank the gods for Charon," She grinned, lifting her neck to smile at him before laying back down. "Since we have a room you could probably just lock the door and get some sleep. No need for watches tonight."

She wiggled all the way over to the wall, leaving a wide space on the bed for him. She didn't wait for his response as she slid under the covers and leaned over to set her whiskey aside on the table before settling on her side of the bed.

He watched her cautiously until her breathing slowed.

He peeled out of his own armor and laid himself on his side of the bed, enjoying the feel of the soft mattress.

He flicked off the lamp and cautiously fell asleep to the sound of her soft snoring.

* * *

He woke up to the sound of the door opening.

"What the fuck," She growled. "What the actual fuck."

She sat down at the end of the bed, the only part of her side that was accessible due to the bed being pressed up in a corner.

He sat up, the blankets falling around his waist, revealing his bare chest.

She turned to him, ready to speak, but paused as her eyes roamed over his torso momentarily.

At first, he angrily thought that she was disgusted by him, and he felt his hands propping him up on the bed curl into fist in the sheets. After she tucked a lock of jet black hair behind her ear nervously, he noticed a pink tint to her cheeks. He relaxed slightly, reassuring himself that she wasn't disgusted by ghouls.

"So I was going about on the ship and... apparently there's a scientist here, a real bitch, who knows my dad." She pulled one knee up to her chest and turned slightly to face him. She looked so young. "I guess I never bothered to tell you..." Was that guilt on her face? "But..." She took a deep breath, glancing towards the ceiling once before meeting his eyes again. "I grew up in a vault. I know you probably don't care," Her voice cracked slightly and she broke eye contact for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "But I'm going to tell you anyway." She swallowed, tucking her legs under her and began fidgeting. There was something that she was leaving out. "My dad left one day when he figured that me and my hu-" Her hands curled into fists in her lap. "When he figured that my life was... okay enough for him to leave me alone. He figured that I could take care of myself. However, the Overseer figured I was in on it and sent everyone after me. He had killed my father's friend... someone I knew for a long time." Her voice had lowered to a whisper and she cleared her throat, raising it again. "I knew I had to leave. I'd never actually been outside of the vault. I have no idea what I'm doing... or where I'm going... or what I plan on doing..." She sighed, standing up and turning her back to him, walking over to a table where she began sorting through her pack. "All I know is that I want to find my dad. Who knows if I ever will... but... I have a lead." She finally turned around to face him. "A woman who works here says that she seen my dad and that he had headed to a vault looking for something for some project he had been working on. Apparently he wants to create a water purifier for the wasteland, so that everyone can have clean water. I figure it's a pretty noble effort." She glanced at her hands as she tugged on a stray string on the hem of her shirt. "So... yeah."

She watched his face for a reaction but all he did was nod. She nodded back, glancing towards the table where she had left her whiskey the night before. She crossed the room and picked it up, taking a deep swig from it, trying not to cry at how pathetic she felt.

Her mind kept reminding her that her father had left without saying goodbye and that he had left her without knowing what would become of her.

He had left her with Butch, who turned out to not give a shit about her anyway. Her heart clenched painfully at the memory of that girl kissing him when they hadn't realized she was in the room too.

She sat on the bed and wondered if Ellen Deloria was okay. She then thought of Amata and... Jonah.

She bit her lip as a quiet sob escaped from her mouth.

She saw Charon glance at her, his face remaining in his usual calm mask. She set down the bottle and curled into a ball on her side of the bed, covering herself completely with the blankets and gripping the pillow fiercely.

She heard him shift around on the bed for a few minutes while she cried and he eventually left her, heading into the bathroom where she heard the shower start.

* * *

He hadn't known how to handle his employer's sadness. He was only good at fighting and wasn't accustomed to comforting anyone.

It kind of unnerved him how fragile she seemed. She was some kid from the vault who had never experienced the harshness of the wastes and she was too idealistic. She had bought his contract probably hoping to free him from it, but she didn't understand that he didn't have a purpose in life. The only thing keeping him going was his contract.

He vaguely remembered people he cared about before the war. Blurred faces that had once been as familiar to him as his own. But their faces were morphed in his memory, just like his was in reality. He watched her climb the steep ground as they made their way to a town he was once familiar with.

Megaton had grown since he had been here last, years ago. He noticed a preacher of sorts standing by the now harmless atomic bomb encouraging people to drink from the irradiated pool. He rolled his eyes and followed his employer as she climbed her way to a saloon. He wasn't familiar with the name but followed her in regardless.

"Hey!" Came a gravelly voice. "Long time no see! What's up smoothskin?"

Charon noticed a faint smile playing over her lips as the ghoul behind the bar greeted her. "I'm-" She began, but was cut off by Gob's cry of recognition.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

Halune pauses, glancing at Charon. "Oh. You two know each other."

Charon nodded, his eyes fixed on Gob's in case the smaller ghoul reacted badly.

"This fucker is responsible for a majority of the injuries suffered by the people in Underworld." Gob leaned on the counter and narrowed his eyes, as if challenging Charon.

"He worked for Ahzrukhal," Halune murmured gently. "Ahzrukhal is responsible for those injuries. Charon works for me now. It's fine."

A muscle in Gob's jaw twitched as he began furiously scrubbing the counter, not meeting their eyes anymore.

"Can you wait over here please?" She asked softly. Her eyes seemed dull. "Or... you can take a seat or whatever. It's up to you. I want to talk to him."

Charon nodded, leaning against the wall next to the door, watching as the crossed the room, walking behind the counter to give Gob a hug that lasted a little too long.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and met her friend's eyes. "I didn't find GNR," She muttered and then a chuckle escaped her lips as if she had finally broken through the ice that was her sadness. "But I sort of know where my dad might be. Someone in Rivit City had said he had headed for a vault somewhere way the fuck west of here." She checked her pipboy and showed the map to Gob.

He whistled in amazement. "They must have really wanted you as far from Rivit City as possible."

She glared, crossing her arms and pretending to leave.

"Hey, I'm just kidding," He called after her but snorted a small laugh when she plopped onto a barstool and asked for a beer.

"Hey Charon," She called over her shoulder. "Do you want a drink?"

The larger ghoul paused before nodding.

"What do you want?"

"Just a beer."

Halune nodded and watched as Gob pulled out two beers and handed them both to her, not making a move to take the other to Charon. She got up and carried it to him herself and smiled at her body guard. "Just let me know when you want another." She studied his face but couldn't identify anything, as usual.

She strode back over to the bar and settled in her seat.

"So how are you?" She asked Gob, taking a sip of her drink, trying not to think of how much she missed the simple life in the vault. Even though she had been married to a complete asshole.

"I'm okay." Gob cast a glance at Charon who was sipping his beer, his eyes on them. "Why did you purchase his contract?" He rumbled quietly, leaning over the counter, propping himself up on his elbows. "You know he's dangerous. And he doesn't care about anyone or anything."

She scratched absentmindedly at her cheek and swished her beer around in the bottle. "He killed Ahzrukhal. The moment I told Charon that he worked for me, he killed Ahzrukhal and told me that it was because Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard."

Gob cast another look at Charon. "So he got revenge for everything Ahzrukhal made him do... So what? He still did everything that that fucker asked of him. Doesn't mean anything. We all have a choice."

She sighed and nodded. "Well, at least I've got someone to keep me alive, then. He's pretty good with a shotgun."

Gob nodded nervously. "Hey... you okay kid?"

Her smile faltered on her face and she gulped down more beer, finishing off the bottle. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her voice cracked.

Gob didn't say anything for a while, watching her as she carefully ran her fingers over the label on the empty bottle. "What's wrong?" He finally asked, handing her another beer.

Her lips formed a tight line and she inhaled deeply. "I'm just used to always being surrounded by people that I know, I guess. I always had my dad and my friends, but now... I've got a silent ghoul and that's it. I don't know why my dad left and why he didn't tell me he was going. He was just gone one day, you know? I woke up and everyone I had grown up around was trying to hunt me down because of what my dad did and then I ran from the vault and I can never go back... I don't know what the hell I'm doing."

Her hands began to shake and Gob took them lightly in his own rough hands. "You know, everyone here's really grateful for you disarming that bomb before you left. Well, everyone except for them at the church." He chuckled. "You always have a place here."

She met his eyes and nodded, taking one of her hands from his to swipe at a tear that dared to escape down her cheek. "Thank you," She whispered.

"What the hell is this?" Moriarty barked, seeing them standing together. "You need to get back to work Gob." He noted their hands clasped and sneered.

Gob rushed to go serve the other patrons and Moriarty watched him leave with narrowed eyes.

Once as Gob was in the other room, he stormed around to the other side of the counter and grabbed her forcefully by the shoulder and jabbed a finger into her chest. "Listen here girly. I can't have you giving him any ideas, okay?"

Suddenly he cried out as Charon grabbed his hand and jerked it away forcefully.

"Don't touch her." He snarled, looming over the smoothskin.

Halune watched gratefully, but she placed a gentle hand on his arm. "You can let him go, Charon."

His eyes flicked to hers and he released the man, not moving away from her side.

"I have a bodyguard now," She commented idly, as Moriarty clutched his wrist.

He glared at the large ghoul and spat, "So I can see. You're a disgusting ghoul lover."

Charon's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms.

"So what?" Halune commented on. "How much does Gob owe you?"

"50,000 caps." Moriarty announced proudly.

Halune nodded. "Can I pay it for him?"

"No," Moriarty answered immediately, not taking his eyes off of Charon.

"What if I paid you 1,000 extra?"

Moriarty's nostrils flared. "I said no. I don't care. He needs to pay off his own debt or he'll never learn anything."

A lead weight settled in Halune's stomach and she rose to her feet. "How long has he worked here?"

Moriarty glared. "A few years."

"That's long enough. Who are you to decide how long his sentence should be?" She took a step forward. "Here's how it's going to go. You're going to accept the caps from me and Gob's going to go free. Wouldn't want anything happening, now would we?" Her eyes flicked to Charon's and he took a step towards the human, causing him to take several steps back.

"You pay me 55,000 and we have a deal."

"Fine," she bit out. She fished in her pack, slamming the caps on the counter impatiently. "Start counting."

Moriarty scurried over to the other side of the bar and grabbed the bag of caps.

Sighing, Halune dropped the wall she had thrown up and walked over to Gob who was being yelled at by a customer who was angry with how long it had taken him to be served.

Halune grabbed a handful of the customer's hair and jerked his face upwards to look at her. "Guess what? No one gives a shit." She grabbed Gob's arm and led him out of the room. "Guess what?"

She was beaming and Gob eyed her suspiciously, glancing at the furious customer nervously.

"You're debt... has been paid," She announced proudly.

Gob opened his mouth and closed it again. His face went through a series of emotions before settling on relief. "Thank you..." He gripped both of her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you," He murmured against her hair.

"Of course," She mumbled, hugging him back.

He pulled away, smiling broadly. "I'm going to get the fuck out of here. I'm going to drink and I'm-"

She cut him off, "Don't drink yourself poor again." She smirked.

Gob shook his head. "Nope. Never gonna happen again." He cast a glance at his former boss. "Hey, Moriarty, fuck you!"

The man glared at the ghoul and opened his mouth to say something before Halune grabbed Gob's arm and led him away and out of the saloon.

The three of them walked back to Halune's house. Gob was in a cheery mood, but Halune was still somewhat glum.

She tried to not let it show as she tried to support her friend's happiness.

She was happy for him, but she knew that he would leave her soon. And she'd be alone again.

Her eyes flicked to Charon, walking along her other side.

Almost alone.

* * *

 **So idk what the fuck this is, but we'll be going back to the vault in the next chapter! Butch, here we come!**


	18. Chapter 18: Distress Signal

**Vault 101!**

* * *

She awoke to a beeping on her pipboy. It was loud and in her ear and she accidentally flung herself off of the bed.

Gob was asleep on the couch downstairs and Charon had slept in her bed, next to her. After traveling together, even though there were still oceans between them, they were at least familiar with each other and sleeping next to one another hadn't been strange at all.

She heard him grunt from the noise she made as she fell and heard him getting up as she fiddled with her pipboy, trying to figure out what the noise came from.

She then realized she had received a distress signal from the vault.

"This is an automated distress message from Vault-Tec: Vault 101. Message begins," Droned out a grating electronic voice.

She didn't even bother to get up off the floor where she was kneeling, back to the bed.

Her heart jumped into her throat as she heard Amata's voice. "It feels like you left home a long time ago..." Halune felt tears prick her eyes. "But I know you're still out there. I just... hope you're still alive to hear this... Things got worse after you left. My father's gone mad with power. If you can hear this, please stop looking for your dad and help stop mine. I changed the door password to my name. If you're hearing this, and if you still care enough to help me, you should remember it."

Her voice cut off as the electric voice chimed in, "Message repeats."

She flipped off the message and sat frozen there for a minute, her hands trembling. She heard Charon shift behind her, as if he was waiting for an order.

She felt a rock settle in her stomach and swallowed all of her emotions.

"You don't need to wait for me to give you an order before you do anything," She growled, standing up, the floor sticking to her bare legs. "You're allowed to speak or do whatever the hell you want." She felt a mix of anger and unfairness in it all, but her mind was also fixated on Amata. Was she okay? "I have to go by myself." She announced turning and noting the way his jaw clenched when she said this. "These people..." Her mind brought a picture of Butch to mind. "They're all I really have. They... The vault was the only place where I belonged. Even though I don't belong there anymore... I have to help."

She turned away from him and began tugging on her armor, not even bothering to take off her nightshirt, which was just an oversized man's shirt.

She clipped everything in place and when she was done, she turned around to leave the room only to see Charon standing there, holding her gear, waiting for her.

"If I'm really allowed to make my own decisions," He ground out. "Then I'm going with."

She paused, staring into his eyes and nodding finally. "Okay," She felt her skin brush his as she took her weapons from him and began holstering them. "Thank you." She whispered the last part, but she thought he heard anyway.

She heard his shuffling about as he put on his armor and she quickly left a note for Gob, leaving it next to his sleeping form on the couch.

They were ready to go in a few minutes.

She walked with her head held high, but in reality, her stomach was doing backflips. She knew that this was supposed to be a mission to just stop the Overseer, but she was excited most of all to see everyone. And most of all, she was excited to get to go back home.

She picked up her step when she spotted the hill where the vault entrance was.

She shoved open the door impatiently and practically ran to the large vault door. When she reached it, she punched in Amata's name and waited impatiently for the door to open and slipped through as soon as she was able.

She felt Charon's strong form behind her as she walked into the fault and that comforted her.

His eyes were on her as she opened a door and was immediately met by vault security.

"Halune?!" The officer gawked for a moment. "Jesus. You're back. You really shouldn't be here, the Overseer wouldn't be to happy."

"He's just going to have to deal with it."

The man shook his head. "I'm glad you're alright, but just... be careful. I won't tell anyone I saw you. Just be glad it was me you ran into."

Her eyes softened a little and she smiled. "Thank you."

The man nodded and glanced at Charon for a moment before shaking his head and walking around the corner, trying to avoid being seen with her.

With a pang, she realized that he hadn't been surprised to see a ghoul. He'd already seen them sometime before. She cautiously pulled down her rifle and crept forward.

She pulled up some sort of interface on her pipboy and whispered into it, "Amata? Where are you?"

"Oh thank goodness!" The response was loud and she clapped her hand over the speaker to muffle the noise while simultaneously turning it down. "I'm so glad you came! We're holed up in the old classroom. Be careful, the guards are getting a lot more dangerous."

"Alright," She whispered back. "I'll find my way there. See you when I see you."

"Bye."

Halune slunk close to the walls, hands brushing against them as she traversed the familiar corridors.

Charon watched as she turned corner after corner until they found a blocked off area.

"Well, shit," She breathed, staring at the pile of desks and lockers. "Let's try another rout."

It took them several more attempts until they found the one clear path to the classroom.

They turned the corner and were greeted by a man with black hair wearing a leather jacket. Charon glared at the man's fighting stance and raised his shotgun, ready to kill him if he went after Halune.

"Butch?" She gasped, lowering her rifle.

Charon eyed her incredulously as she ran up to the man. She stopped in front of him, looking like she might have wanted to hug him but restrained herself.

"Yeah, hi Nosebleed," He muttered nervously, his eyes glued on Charon. "What the fuck is that thing?"

"Oh, this is my friend Charon. He's a ghoul."

"Uh huh." The boy shook his head and turned his attention back to Halune. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"Amata asked me to come."

"Did she now? She couldn't have done it sooner?"

Halune blinked several times.

"Guess what happened because you and your dad left?" An acidic tone had crept into his voice and his eyes narrowed into slits.

Charon once again prepared himself to shoot. Just in case.

"What happened Butch?" She asked, obligingly, her eyes nervous. She looked too fragile. Charon knew she was not.

"Because you guys weren't here, my mom died."

"I'm so sorry, Butch-"

He cut her off. "You know what the best part is?" He continued, not even waiting for a reply. "She didn't even die from the alcohol poisoning. The Overseer appointed Andy as the new medical professional without you, your dad, or Jonah around. That went about as well as your cake on your tenth birthday."

"I'm so sorry," She whispered, reaching out a tentative hand, hoping to comfort him.

He slapped it away. "While you've been out adventuring, we've all been stuck here. And you know what? It would have been better if you and your dad hadn't come to the vault all those years ago when you were born. Then none of this would have happened."

Halune looked like she was about to cry and Charon cut in, feeling wary as he spoke openly, something he wasn't used to. "That's enough. You all forced her out, you don't get to berate her for actually going out." He took several steps forward, causing Butch to back off. "Should we go see your friend?" His eyes flicked to Halune's and he saw sadness and gratitude in them.

"Mhmm," she mumbled, voice sounding shaky.

They walked past Butch who glared at Halune as she passed, casting a regret filled stare at him before hurrying forward and pushing into the classroom.

There were mattresses spread all over the room and a table in the corner, where Halune walked over and greeted a young girl with a fierce hug.

Charon could tell that she was trying to hold back tears as she quickly pulled away and sniffled.

"Hi, Amata."

"Hi," The girl smiled, squeezing Halune's shoulder. Her face soon turned to shock when she seen Charon. "Uh, who? What? Halune?"

Halune sighed. "He's fine. This is my friend Charon."

Amata nodded, keeping her eyes on the ghoul for a moment longer before tearing her eyes away and looking at Halune again. "I suppose you got my message."

"Yeah," Halune breathed.

"My father has gone crazy. He's killed anyone who tried to escape and..." The girl's voice broke and she let out a quiet sob before collecting herself. "You have to talk to him. You're the only one who has any experience with the outside world. He'll listen to you. We just wanted to open the vault, but then everything went to chaos."

Halune nodded. "I suppose he's in his office?"

Amata took a deep breath. "Probably. I'd imagine he'd be trying to shut off the distress signal I sent out."

Halune nodded, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, swallowing any weakness. "I'll take care of it."

"Please don't kill him," Amata begged, clutching the sleeve of her friend. "I know he's done a lot of bad things, but he's still my father."

Halune smiled softly. "I'll see what I can do."

Amata nodded, lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders, swallowing her weakness as well. "Be careful."

Halune nodded and turned to leave.

Charon followed her.

Butch was still outside but he didn't say anything. Just stared after Halune as she left.

Charon noticed that she looked like she was going to say something to the boy, but he placed a hand on her back and hurried her away from him, not wanting him to say anything else to her.

Her eyes found his questioningly, but he forced himself to stare forward as he placed both hands on his shotgun again.

They continued down the hallway, ducking behind corners when they spotted guards so as to avoid killing any of them. It was slow and painstaking, but they eventually made it. The door proudly declared "Overseer" above it in the typical vault fashion.

She opened the door and stepped in, trying to hide her hesitance.

A man with gray hair and steely eyes turned to look at her, his hands held behind his back. "Well, well. You've returned. No doubt it's because of Amata's distress signal." He narrowed his eyes at Charon. "I see you brought an abomination with you."

"Yep, and he might just kill you if you don't shut up and listen," She barked. No trace of the scared little girl was left. She had swallowed her fear and had become the girl that people heard about in the news. The girl who disarmed bombs and freed slaves. "Look, you're going to destroy this vault."

"Destroy?" The man hissed. "I'm trying to save it!"

"By killing everyone that lives in it?" Her voice rose. "How many have you killed? We were already limited on population before, how are we doing now?"

The man didn't respond.

She lowered her voice. "Sometimes you have to let go, if you love something. I know you care about this vault. And I know you care about Amata. But you have to..." She took a deep breath. "You have to stop the killing and open the vault."

The old man stared at her incredulously, his eyes leveling to meet hers. A painful moment of silence passed before he finally spoke. "You're right..." He took a deep breath and ran a hand over his face. "But I can't. I can't do this... This is... something for Amata." He swallowed thickly. "I'm stepping down as Overseer."

She smiled, face gentle. "You're making the right decision."

He nodded and pressed a finger to an intercom button, his voice echoing around the vault. "Residents of Vault 101. I am stepping down as Overseer. Please cease all destructive activity. Amata Almodovar is the new overseer. Security, please stand down and refrain from firing at anyone."

Halune was already by the door by the time he turned back around. "Thank you, sir."

Charon followed her as they crossed the vault once more.

Butch wasn't in the hall anymore after the announcement. They found him and Amata sitting at the table, talking quickly.

"Hey!" Amata called. "I can't believe you did it! Thank you so much!" She stood and hugged Halune, her arms gripping her tightly.

"Don't mention it." She smiled. "He seemed to really regret everything," She added softly. "He really does care about you."

Amata smiled and clutched her friend's shoulder.

"I suppose my apartment's a complete wreck, huh?" She snorted and ran a hand through her hair.

Amata let go of her shoulder and shifted uncomfortably. "Um, Halune?"

"Yes?" She could detect the nervousness even in her own voice.

"Look, I know you did what you did to save the vault, but... a lot of people still blame you and your dad for what happened."

She furrowed her brows and narrowed her eyes.

"You... you can't stay here. In order for everything to go back to normal, or as normal as possible... you have to leave. And you can't come back."

A cold wave hit Halune like a gust of icy wind. "You're... You're...?"

"You're kicking her out?" The protest came from Butch.

Halune looked up in surprise to see he had stood up and was walking over to Amata, arms crossed.

"Look, I know that she and her pops caused a lot of issues, but we need her. She's got medical knowledge. Plus she grew up here. This is her home too."

She felt like a fist had clenched onto her stomach when she heard Butch sticking up for her.

"I'm sorry," Amata muttered. "But, no one will follow me if they don't think I'm making the right decisions as Overseer. I'm sorry. You don't have to stay Butch..."

"No, that's not the issue. She just saved us and now you're throwing her out. Not even going to give her a second to breathe. That's pretty low Princess."

Amata opened her mouth to argue but Halune stopped her with a wave of her hand. "Look, whatever. I still have to find my dad anyway." She didn't meet either pair of eyes, but she felt them staring at her. She felt comforted when Charon moved to stand protectively beside her and she smelled the scent of leather armor and gunpowder on him. "I just..." She took a deep breath. "Thank you, Amata. For being my friend. Ask around for me at Megaton if you ever leave the vault on your own and wanna see me. And..." Her eyes shot to Butch's. "Can I talk to you, please?"

He inhaled and nodded, eyes wary. "Yeah, sure."

They stepped over to the other end of the room, Halune asking Charon to wait for her outside.

"Look," She began, but he cut her off.

"I'm sorry that we got so mixed up with each other because of this whole arranged marriage thing."

"It's okay," She whispered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm also sorry for how I treated you."

"That's fine," She chuckled lightly, then plastered a serious face on. "And I'm sorry for what happened to your mom."

He sighed. "Yeah. But I know it wasn't your fault. I know you Poindexter. You would have helped if you could have."

She nodded slowly.

"You won't have to worry about me though. I suppose our marriage doesn't even mean anything outside of the vault and you and I were never meant for eachother anyhow."

He was staring off into the distance so he didn't see the sad expression that crumpled her face. She quickly smoothed out her expression and took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess so..." She hugged her arms around her, feeling his words hit her like a blow. She had hoped that he would have left with her. Even though he had kissed someone else... Did she really expect him to care about her?

"Look, maybe I'll see you around sometime, but for now, take care of yourself Nosebleed."

She nodded, swallowing the thick lump in her throat. "Yeah, you too." She stared into his eyes one last time, not knowing what she saw there, but she turned and left before he could see her cry.

* * *

 **Well! I left it off here! But I'm super excited for Rivet City again! Thank you to everyone who's been reading. I'm really glad you're all enjoying my shitty work. Lol.**


	19. Chapter 19: Burning

**Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed!**

 **Also, remember how I said this fanfic would be rated M because of sexual content? You have been warned.**

* * *

They walked in silence for a while, her trying not to make a sound and Charon watching her with weary eyes.

Once as they had left the vault door, she finally allowed herself a small sniffle. He watched as she clutched her sides as they walked, shaking slightly.

He still didn't know how to react to her when she was like this, but he placed a tentative hand on her shoulder, something he had seen her friends do.

She took one of her hands and covered his with it, her small fingers curling over his calloused skin.

He didn't move his hand from her shoulder until they reached Megaton. They changed out of their armor and climbed back into bed, the first hints of the sun peeking over the horizon. He laid on his back, not knowing what to say, but she climbed in next to him and pressed her forehead to his shoulder, feeling his warmth. He placed his hand over hers and eventually her sniffles quieted and stopped all together.

He lay awake as he heard her breathing even out as she fell asleep.

She had gone to help the vault without a moment's hesitation and they had immediately thrown her out once she wasn't needed anymore. The look of defeat had been obvious on her face. She had been upset, but knew there was no point in fighting it. And whatever she had spoken to Butch about had definitely been worse.

He found himself wondering what Butch had said to make her cry.

His thoughts were interrupted as she wiggled closer to him in her sleep, stretching a slender arm over his chest and curling a leg protectively over one of his.

He sighed, relaxing.

He'd never had an employer like her. He didn't know how to help her, but he knew she wasn't evil. She was just lost. And even if he couldn't make her feel better, he'd still follow her. He contemplated what he might feel as she made a soft noise in her sleep. She had bought his contract and had tried to convince him to let go of it's hold on him. She tried to get him to speak and act freely, but didn't realize how difficult those things were for him. After years of being a statue that didn't speak unless spoken to and didn't act unless ordered to, he had forgotten what he even wanted out of life.

Before the bombs fell, he might have wanted a family, a nice house, but now that was out of the question. He didn't even know what life could possibly offer him.

He turned over to his side to face his employer. He knew that working for her wouldn't last. He could live forever, but she was only guaranteed to live out her short mortal life and would eventually leave him. There was no future with her. As his employer or friend. Because once as she was gone, things would go back to how they always had been. He would work for some sick, twisted fuck and he wouldn't be allowed to complain about it.

There was no point in her trying to help him.

* * *

When he woke up, the smell of smoke greeted him.

He briefly wondered if she had burnt something while cooking before he slowly dressed and walked down the stairs.

Gob was no where in sight and he figured that the other ghoul must have left already.

Halune was standing next to a table watching something burn in the ashtray.

Charon stared at it curiously before he noticed that it looked like a ball of rolled up paper.

Everything ground to a stop. He felt adrenaline pump through his veins and he moved to take the paper out of the ashtray, but she moved to block him.

Growling, he grabbed her shoulders and tried to move her but she put up a struggle, saying his name and trying to get his attention. Finally, he gave up trying to be gentle, and violently threw her to the ground, ignoring her yelp of pain as she hit the floor. He stared in horror at the pile of ashes that had once been his contract. He tried to calm his breathing for several long seconds before he turned his eyes to glare at her.

She had pulled herself off of the floor and was leaning against the wall, eyes nervous but fixed on his.

"Charon," She murmured. "You don't have to follow me or anybody. You can-"

"No," He growled. "I know you only wanted to help, but what you fail to realize is that I am nothing without the contract. That contract... It's..." He inhaled sharply, not knowing how to say what he wanted. "You don't get to decide what's best for everyone."

"But you're not a slave! You should never have to take orders! You're better than Ahzrukhal and you should never have been forced to do any horrible thing he asked you to." Her brown eyes were bright. Had she been crying again?

He didn't care. He grabbed her by the front of the shirt and pushed everything off the table, slamming her down onto it, leaning over her. "I'm better than that? What makes you so sure? You barely know me."

A spark of fear entered her eyes for the first time and she didn't say anything as she stared wide eyed into his own milky eyes. His body felt electric as he let her go, running a hand over his features and pacing wildly for a minute.

"Charon," She whispered. "You killed Ahzrukhal because he was evil. You wouldn't have done that if you didn't have some sense of morality."

His eyes darted to hers for a moment but he didn't respond. Instead, he turned and left the shack and she was alone again.

* * *

Gob had said goodbye to her sometime around nine in the morning, before Charon had woken up, so she had sat alone debating her actions for hours before finally deciding to go through with it. She figured he might be somewhat angry with her for burning his contract, but she didn't care. She wanted him free. Even if he wasn't with her anymore.

She ran a hand through her hair and fiddled with her pipboy, wishing that the signal could reach all the way into the vault so she could contact Amata.

She still had to find her father, but somehow the only thing she had the energy to do was to wallow in her own loneliness. Her father had left her. Charon had left her. Butch had pushed her away. And Amata had banished her.

She bitterly wondered if everything in her life had been a lie. She hadn't been born in the vault, Amata didn't really care about her. And her father...

A tiny sob escaped her as she rolled into a tight ball on her bed.

It had been hours since Charon had left and she felt the weight of every single loss hit her in this moment. She couldn't even go home.

No, this wasn't her home. Not really. It was just a house. But that didn't mean anything to her.

Her fingers trailed lightly over the wedding band still on her left ring finger as she took it off and threw it across the room.

Then she heard the front door slam shut and she jerked upright in bed, staring out the doorway towards the stairs.

After several painfully long moments, she saw Charon walking up the stairs, his eyes dark. He smelled of alcohol.

"Charon-" She began but he cut her off, sitting next to her in bed and grabbing a fistfull of her hair. She held her breath, staring into his face as he stared into hers.

It came as a shock when he pressed his lips firmly to hers.

She inhaled sharply and felt her heart pounding in her chest as he eased her into a laying position on the bed.

He adjusted himself so that he was laying on top of her with one knee placed between her own.

She tentatively raised her hands to either side of his face, trailing her fingers along his skin and wrapping her arms around his neck as she kissed him back softly.

He growled against her mouth before moving his lips to trail over her neck.

She gasped as he grabbed her knee and pulled it around his hips, grinding against her roughly.

He nipped at her flesh lightly, rolling his hips against hers, feeling the warmth grow between them.

Goosebumps rose along her skin as she felt his hands roaming all over her body. His right hand slid along the curve of her ass to slide up her hip and eventually cup a breast, firmly, kneading it enthusiastically.

She felt his hard bulge grinding against her clit and was shocked at how good it felt. A soft moan escaped her lips and he jerked back suddenly.

She opened her eyes to see him taking off his armor. Somehow, he managed to strip down to only his shorts in a matter of a few seconds before climbing atop her again and pushing her shirt up and pulling it over her head.

He leaned down and bit one of her nipples, pinching the other as he continued grinding against her.

She fisted her hands in the sheets, hearing her own moans escape her throat.

He stopped playing with her nipples so that he could look her in the eyes as he trailed one hand lightly down her side until he had reached her thigh.

He stroked the skin on her inner thigh teasingly, close to her panty line, as he watched her close her eyes, relaxing and tensing against his touch somehow simultaneously.

He pushed the material of her underwear aside and thrust a finger into her.

Her mouth opened as she let out a loud and surprised gasp.

He felt her thighs tense around his hips as he slowly moved his finger in and out, rubbing her clit with his thumb.

She was moaning louder now, no longer trying to be quiet.

He reveled at how beautiful her sounds were as she panted under him. He inserted another finger and picked up the pace.

Her breathing hitched and she desperately grabbed his shoulders, her fingers curling tightly around his biceps.

"Charon," She gasped, crying out as he sped up his thrusts even more.

She began swearing softly as he felt her tense around him and he stopped only to remove her underwear.

He took off his own shorts and once again positioned himself over her.

His heart pounded viciously when he saw her part her thighs for him as he held his cock in his hand, bringing it closer to her entrance with promise.

He stared into her eyes as he pressed against her. She stared back, her face flushed and hungry.

He slammed into her.

He loved the sound she made as he filled her completely.

Once as he was all the way in, he placed a hand firmly against her hip and bucked her once, enjoying the sharp gasp that escaped her.

He pressed his lips to her neck as he began slowly moving in her while holding her hip and holding her against him.

Her moans were deep and loud and eventually, hunger encouraged him to pick up the pace, thrusting into her, watching her shake beneath him.

Each thrust threatened to move her forward and away from him, so he held tighter onto her hip to hold her in place as he pounded into her.

Her cries rose in volume and he ran his teeth along her throat, as he made his thrusts a little rougher, making sure he was fully seated each time.

He waited until she was gasping desperately beneath him before he spread her legs wider and pressed a finger to her clit. This earned him sharp whine and an eager buck of her hips.

Almost smiling, he continued thrusting, watching her tits shake from the force of his thrusts until she suddenly sucked in a hissing breath and arched her back off the bed, hands grasping him desperately as she cursed and screamed his name.

With a deep growl, he bit the side of her neck and changed to a rough pace as he felt the last of her twitches around his cock.

She curled her legs around him and her lips found his as she pulled him closer.

He grunted and felt his pleasure build until he couldn't take it anymore as she felt a hot rush inside her. His breath was hot against her ear as she enjoyed the deep moan that escaped him as he came.

He rode out the last of his twitches and breathed heavily against her neck, thrusting into her one last time before slowly sliding out of her and collapsing on the bed beside her.

She rolled to face him and he jerked her knee over his hips and pressed his lips to hers.

She moaned softly and he broke away from the kiss.

"You said I had the option of choosing what I wanted."

She nodded, a small smile on her face.

He leaned forward and kissed her again, feeling their chests pressed together.

* * *

 **So this isn't the end of this. And we're still going to see Butch again, so bear with me here. Please review! This is the first sex scene I've ever written o.o**

 **The next installment is called Wasteland Heartache!**


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